


The Monster Princess

by GleefullyWicked



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Mild Sexual Content, Violence, based on The Swan Princess and Swan Lake, fairytale AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-31
Updated: 2015-07-23
Packaged: 2018-02-23 07:43:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 45,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2539880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GleefullyWicked/pseuds/GleefullyWicked
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the arranged marriage between the princesses of the kingdoms of Karnstein and Hollis falls through, what ensues afterwards is far more sinister than anything Carmilla and Laura could have anticipated, and only true love can save their kingdoms. Loosely based on The Swan Princess.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> The prologue to this story is in a fairytale format. The rest of it will be a traditional third-person fic.

_Once upon a time, there lived two neighboring kingdoms. The one in the west, the ancient and renowned kingdom of Karnstein, was lead by a great and powerful king, who had led many successful war campaigns against distant enemy lands. However, the king of Karnstein, known for his bravery and leadership, eventually grew quite old without ever having taken a wife._

_The unrest amongst the peasants grew with each passing month following the grand ball celebrating the king's fortieth year, where he had sat at the head of the feast alone. For while the king was beloved amongst his people, he was the very last of the Karnstein royal bloodline, and the idea of having no natural-born heir to the throne made the kingdom quite uneasy._

_But one day, while on a hunt in the nearby woods, the king and his officers came across who appeared to be a young noblewoman from a distant country. With her carriage overturned, her dress torn to shreds, and her coachmen grievously mauled to death, the young lady told a tale of how she had been on her way to visit the neighboring kingdom of Hollis in the east when her carriage had been attacked by a monster, which she described as being a beastly, cat-like creature which had been able to overturn her carriage with one swift bat of its enormous paw._

_Being the noble and hospitable man that he was, the king graciously offered to bring the young lady back to his castle, where she may recover from her terrible ordeal in safety. After much convincing, the lady agreed, and the king escorted her to his home with the promise that he would prepare a carriage to take the lady home whenever she determined that she was well enough for the journey. But such as these tales go, such a day never came, for two months after her arrival at Castle Karnstein, the young noblewoman became the king's wife and was crowned queen, to the rejoice of the kingdom._

_The joy didn't last, for nearly three years passed, and despite the efforts of the king and queen, there was still no heir to the kingdom of Karnstein, and so the king coped by planning another war campaign; one that would keep him way for no shorter than two years. But on the eve of the king's departure, the queen wept at his feet, for she had discovered that she was finally with child. Without hesitation, the king called off his campaign, for no additional power or riches could bring him the joy that this child would._

_And so it did, for on a stormy evening in April, the queen gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and the king was absolutely delighted. The princess, who the king and queen named Carmilla, was everything a good heir should be. Strong, precocious, and happy, she was a constant source of light in her parents' lives. But sadly, the happiness the royal family shared was rather short lived, for when the princess was still very young, the king of Karnstein fell ill and soon died._

_Princess Carmilla was in no way fit to be queen, and so her mother ruled as regent with an iron fist. However, the queen knew that her daughter would eventually take the throne, and so she arranged plans with the neighboring kingdom of Hollis that would make Karnstein more powerful than ever upon Carmilla's coronation. So while still a toddler, the future queen of Karnsten's future had already been planned out for her. When she came of an appropriate age, she was to marry the heir to the kingdom of Hollis, a girl two years Carmilla's junior by the name of Laura._


	2. First Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Princess Carmilla and Princess Laura are a match made in heaven from the get-go. Also, the first few chapters are going to be in a lot of segments. If you've seen the Disney Lite movie that this is based off, you'll know why.

It was odd for Princess Carmilla to see her father laying in a large, ornate box before her. In terms best suited for a three-year-old (albeit, a mature one), Carmilla's mother had explained to her days before that her father was gone, and that he would never come back. She assumed this meant that the king had gone away, like he often did for days at a time, and would return with toys and sweets for her. This led to some confusion when Carmilla first saw the former king of Karnstein laying right there. He just looked like he was sleeping!

But of course, he wasn't just sleeping, and even being as young as she was, Carmilla knew that. When she'd gently touched his hand, the king did not stir, and when she looked at him- really looked at him, Carmilla could not see her father, and knew that her mother had spoken the truth. He wasn't coming back.

So now, hours later, as Carmilla stood in front of the casket, in a puffy black dress that itched, she wished for nothing more than to hide behind her mother's skirts and get away from all these people wishing to tell them how sorry they were. Were they the culprits of her father's illness? If so, then the first thing her father would do would be to give them a trial. Though her mother explained that this was how others said that they felt sympathy, not that they were somehow responsible for her father dying.

It was all very confusing for the little girl, and by the time the queen and princess were approached by a man dressed similarly to the way Carmilla's father used to, she just wanted to retire to her chambers and convene with her toy council. The man greeted Carmilla's mother by her first name, and she addressed him as King Frederick.

"I'm so sorry for your loss." King Frederick said immediately, and Carmilla rolled her eyes- a habit her mother was sure she'd managed to pick up from her nannies and chambermaids. 

"At least my dearest Joseph is at rest." Carmilla's mother said solemnly.

"Indeed." King Frederick agreed with a nod. He then seemed to notice the small figure trying her best to blend in with her mother's own black dress. "Hello." The king greeted her with a kind smile. "You must be Princess Carmilla?"

"I am." Carmilla said with a nod, trying not to be bashful, which her mother said was a horrible habit for a princess. She sidestepped away from the queen. "I'm Carmilla Mircalla Millarca-" She counted the names off on her fingers as she went. "-Josephine Wilhelmina, first of my name, princess of Karnstein." As an afterthought, the little girl added in a quick curtsy. The fact that her nannies had spent an entire day teaching Carmilla the "proper way" for her to introduce herself just proved to her that her name was far too long.

The king bowed graciously. "It is an honor to meet you, your highness. Your father spoke of you often." Before King Frederick could speak any further, there was a shrill shrieking sound from a behind him, and everyone's attention turned to the blonde little girl in a nanny's arms.

"My apologies, Your Majesties. I think her teeth are coming in." The nanny said as she attempted to quiet the baby.

"That must be young Laura?" Carmilla's mother observed with a forced smile. Carmilla was barely older than the girl and even she knew that it was somewhat unusual for babies to travel with their parents. Especially royal ones.

"Yes, she is." The king said with a proud smile, and motioned for the nanny to bring the girl forward. "Carmilla, this is my daughter, Princess Laura."

Carmilla frowned, not entirely sure how she was supposed to greet a baby. She spared the curtsy.

"Hello, Princess Laura." The three-year-old said, and the baby started crying again.

"Laura isn't speaking, yet." The king explained the obvious. "But I'm sure the two of you will be excellent friends in the future."

Carmilla seriously doubted that. "Yes." She said simply. Unbeknownst to the heir of Karnstein at the time, this would be her first meeting with the person she was intended to marry.

* * *

"Have you considered my proposal?" The queen of Karnstein asked, just a few months after her husband's funeral. King Frederick paced his study, where the two of them convened.

"I have." He admitted. The queen sat in a lounge chair and waited for him to go on, but he didn't.

"And your position on the matter?" She prodded.

The king stopped. "I don't wish to take away my daughter's chance at a happy marriage before she is even able to take steady steps on her own." He explained as he looked into the fireplace.

"And what says that Laura and Carmilla won't be perfectly happy together?" The queen inquired.

"They have no choice!" The king turned to meet the queen's eyes. "My wife made me promise that I would protect Laura, and-"

"Frederick, what better way to protect your daughter than to marry her to the most eligible person in ten kingdoms? Better my daughter than some duke thirty years her senior. Besides, was your marriage to your wife not arranged?" The queen was determined to get what she wanted, no matter what it may take.

The king's fists clenched at his sides at the mention of his wife in that light. "That was different. We were grown." He said through his teeth.

"Just as Laura and Carmilla will be. I'm of course not suggesting that they get married anytime soon."

The king took a deep breath. "And what of the matter of heirs? Our daughters are our only children, and they're both female..." The king's voice trailed off.

"I come from a land where benevolent sorcerers are not uncommon. When the time comes, one could assist them." The queen explained without skipping a beat. "On my next journey here, I could always bring you a tome on the subject." The king shook his head.

"I believe you." A long period of silence followed until finally he said, "I want an arrangement so that Laura can become close to Carmilla long before their nuptials."

The queen nodded once. "Of course." She rose from her chair and crossed the room to place her hand on King Frederick's arm. "I know this is a difficult decision to make, Frederick, but think of the good it will bring to the people of your kingdom. They all will benefit from this merger."

"Which is the only reason why I'm agreeing to this." The king said solemnly. "Now, how do you propose we bring the girls together?"

The queen smiled. "How is the summer weather, here?"

* * *

"Is the queen really bringing her daughter with her?" A five-year-old Princess Laura asked her father giddily for the hundredth time, just to be absolutely certain. She held his hand as they walked together to the castle gates, where they would meet the royals from Karnstein.

"Yes, my dear." King Frederick reassured her. "Princess Carmilla."

Laura mouthed the name of the other princess, thinking it very pretty. "Is she nice?" The five-year-old asked, excited at the idea of possibly having her very first friend. They weren't exactly an easy thing to come by when your father never let you leave your home. And when you were the princess.

"I'm not sure, Laura." The king admitted as the two of them reached the gates and now only had to wait for the carriage to arrive.

"But what if she's not?" Laura considered, concern showing on her face. The king thought for a moment.

"Then just know that she will go home in September." He said finally.

"And she will share my room until then?" Laura assumed, having yet to inquire about the rather conspicuous extra bed that had been moved into her chambers.

"Yes." The king confirmed. "It will give the two of you more of a chance to get to know one another." Laura nodded, not sure whether or not this was a typical custom for friends, but she was not one to judge. "Their carriage shall be arriving any moment." Laura's heart raced with excitement.

"Carmilla." She whispered to herself again, already planning all of the fun things they would do that the other girls in the village got to

* * *

"How much longer, Mother?" Carmilla asked from her side of the carriage as she looked out the window for any sign of the seemingly endless forest giving way to civilization.

"Any time, darling." The queen replied. "I'm sure Princess Laura is as excited to meet you as you are her."

Carmilla shook her head. "I wanted to stay home with my friends."

The queen shot her daughter a warning glance for contradicting her. "Carmilla, you don't have friends; you have servants." She reminded the seven-year-old.

"They're more my friends than a crying baby." Carmilla argued, recalling her very first brief encounter with Princess Laura of Hollis.

"She has grown in the four years since then, just as you have." The queen was quickly losing her patience, and Carmilla knew better than to push her further. The girl looked out the window just in time to see the forest end, and a rather vast area of fields begin, with a large city in the distance. In comparison to the mining kingdom of Karnstein, Hollis was arguably picturesque. If anything, the peasants the carriage passed were arguably cleaner than the ones Carmilla's mother ruled over. Had she been a bit older, she would have noted that the people were likely not as heavily taxed by King Frederick.

The castle itself soon came into clear view, and beyond it, Carmilla could spot a great lake. Perhaps that was why her mother had chosen this place as their summer destination, for she'd never given a clear answer when Carmilla asked. The carriage stopped to meet the greeting party that had assembled at the front gate.

"Your parasol, dear." The queen reminded Carmilla before the coachmen came around to open the doors. The princess rolled her eyes, but objectively knew that a heat rash would make her time all the more dreadful and grabbed it from where it rested beside her. The coachman helped Carmilla's mother out of the carriage, and then hoisted the girl afterward, despite knowing how much she hated being lifted like an infant. The princess gave the coachman a glare once he set her on the ground, and she opened her parasol with a huff.

"Come along, Carmilla." The queen said quietly, and led Carmilla to the opened gate, where the familiar face of King Frederick waited. Beside him, a blonde girl, rather tiny for her age, smiled broadly at the queen and princess.

"Welcome, your majesty." Frederick greeted the queen warmly, taking her hands in his. "It is an honor to host you this season."

"And it is an honor to be here, my dear King Frederick." Carmilla's mother said, and released the king's hands before turning to Carmilla. The king mockingly gasped.

"And this young lady is of course Princess Carmilla." He said with a smile. "My, how you have grown since I've seen you last. You're perhaps a whole head taller!"

Carmilla forced a smile. "It is nice to see you again, King Frederick." She recited the line her mother gave her before turning her attention back to the little blonde girl, who upon further examination seemed to be on the verge of jumping out of her skin with excitement. The older princess then said her next line. "And I am very pleased to meet you, Princess Laura."

"Please to meet _you_ Princess Carmilla." The blonde girl replied, sounding far more genuine. She then held out her hand with her palm down. Carmilla quickly looked up at her mother, who nodded. The brunette girl then hesitated before quickly taking Laura's hand in hers and bringing it up to her lips to kiss it lightly.

Once the attention of the adults was elsewhere, but not caring if Laura was still looking, Carmilla furiously wiped at her mouth with a handkerchief. The younger girl looked appalled for a moment, but then swiftly took on a somewhat cold demeanor.

"Father, Carmilla will be sleeping in the room across from mine, yes?" Laura asked King Frederick casually. The king's attention turned back to his daughter.

"No, my dear. She's boarding with you, as we discussed earlier." This response caused Carmilla's eyes to widen considerably.

"But won't she be more comfortable in her own room?" Laura insisted.

"Carmilla is just fine with sharing, Princess Laura." The queen spoke for her daughter, who looked somewhat horrified at the idea of not having her own room.

"Excellent!" King Frederick said, clapping his hands together once. "Then it is settled, and we best head back to the castle so that you two may settle in." The king and queen lead the way back to the castle, leaving Laura and Carmilla behind, and giving the blonde a chance to glare daggers at the brunette, and stick her tongue out at her.

Carmilla gasped, not used to anyone responding to her bad behavior with more bad behavior, and definitely not used to being disrespected. She glared back, and after a bit of hesitation, sunk to Laura's level and stuck her tongue out as well.

* * *

"Was there a reason why you were so rude to me today, or are you just awful?" Laura asked Carmilla later that night, after she'd bathed and changed into her nightgown. The older girl looked up from the book she was reading by candlelight.

"I don't want to be here." She said simply, and went back to reading her book.

"But I didn't do anything to you!" Laura exclaimed, bringing her fist down on the mattress of her bed. "I just wanted to be your friend."

"I don't want or need friends." Carmilla said with a sigh, and marked her place in the book, knowing that she probably wouldn't be able to read without interruption for the rest of the night.

"Why?" Laura asked, somewhat intrigued by how someone could possibly have such a bleak outlook on life.

"Because I'm going to be queen. Mother doesn't have friends, and neither shall I." She blew out the candle and walked to her own bed.

Laura angrily crawled under the covers of her bed and crossed her arms over her chest with a huff. "Well, then you aren't allowed to play with my toys." She stated.

Carmilla laughed. "I didn't want your stupid toys, anyways."

"Good. Because you can't play with them." Laura insisted pettily. "Also, I don't want to talk to you anymore."

"Fine." Carmilla sighed.

"Good!" Laura shot back.

"Fantastic!"

"Terrific!"


	3. Betrothed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth is out.

The first summer together was slow and torturous for Carmilla and Laura alike. Or at least, Carmilla assumed her roommate was having about as much fun as she was. The girls quickly learned that they had little to nothing in common and this led to several arguments every day that they didn't absolutely refuse to speak to each other. The king and queen had to have noticed their daughters' distain for each other, but either chose to ignore this fact, or decided that they were just children and eventually they would become the best of friends. Over the course of three months, this never happened and Carmilla was positively elated to go home.

She enjoyed the next nine months of lessons and diplomatic balls without a word regarding Laura of Hollis, but as all good things had to end, summer soon came around again and she found herself in a whole new circle of hell, as it appeared that Laura had developed a taste for marionettes since her last visit. King Frederick indulged his little girl by having a small puppet theatre built in Laura's chambers, where she would put on elaborate plays for her stuffed animals, chamber maids, and, despite her protests, Carmilla. When a mine explosion back in Karnstein forced Carmilla and her mother to return home a month early, she could have sworn it was the gods showing her mercy.

The next two years were relatively uneventful in comparison to the ones previous. While Laura still had an appreciation for puppets, she put on fewer shows, and Carmilla saw considerably less of her once her father had decided that as the future monarch, she should be proficient at melee combat. The idea of the tiny girl in armor and wielding a sword was absolutely hilarious to Carmilla, and she would have taken a peek at the training sessions, but she didn't want to give her mother the satisfaction of thinking she was finally taking an interest in the infuriating little imp. Until her body grew accustomed to the seemingly non-stop exercise, Laura was constantly exhausted and was too preoccupied with eating as much food as possible during mealtimes to attempt conversations with her roommate, which was just as well because Carmilla had decided to teach herself Sumerian- no small feat for a child.

The start of the fifth summer seemed to indicate another uneventful year. The weather was mild, the lake warm, and the peasants happy. Carmilla of course dreaded another boring summer, but it was becoming routine. Now eleven years old, Carmilla fully understood how childish her ongoing feud with Laura was, but she couldn't bring herself to end it. After hopping out of the carriage before the coachman could assist her- and earning a warning glare from her mother, Carmilla's first sight was of Laura, who looked nothing like herself with hair that was now the color of teak.

"You aren't blonde." Carmilla said plainly, skipping the introductions. By now, King Frederick was used to such manners from the girls towards each other.

Laura ran a hand through her long, straight locks. "Yes, I know." She improved her posture. "I also have grown taller, but you seem to have not noticed that."

Carmilla smiled. "Perhaps I would have noticed if you grew past my shoulders." She turned to King Frederick. "It's nice to see you again, Your Majesty." And then she walked past the greeting party toward the castle. After a moment, Laura caught up with her.

"My father has just told me that the two of us are to have dinner together. Alone." The younger girl informed Carmilla with annoyance.

"Splendid."

* * *

 

"Laura, would you please pass the potatoes?" Carmilla asked her dinner companion. Laura pushed the serving bowl toward Carmilla, though it unfortunately was still about ten feet out of reach for the girl sitting at the opposite end of the large table. A servant immediately rushed to their aid, picking up the bowl and walking it over to Carmilla.

"This would be easier if you would have just sat in the place where you were supposed to." Laura said loud enough for Carmilla to hear, and indicated the chair to her right.

"I like sitting on the end." Carmilla insisted, and took a drink of water from her goblet before motioning for the servant to put a few spoonfuls of potatoes on her plate.

Laura shook her head. "Are you so slothful that you can't do that yourself?"

Carmilla smiled and cocked her head to the side. "I merely don't want to make a mess in your lovely dining room." She took a careful bite.

"Your mother has spoiled you rotten." Laura said with disgust, to which Carmilla merely shrugged.

"I'd like to think of myself as a fermenting wine grape." She took a few more bites of food before standing up. "I appear to not have much of an appetite tonight. If you'll excuse me, I'll be in our bedchambers."

Laura didn't attempt to stop her, and Carmilla made her leave, walking down a long hallway to get to the proper staircase that would lead to Laura's room. However, when she heard the voices of her mother and King Frederick coming from behind the door to the king's study, Carmilla couldn't help but stop and listen.

"This isn't working!" The king's voice rang out. "Clearly, they can't stand each other, and frankly, I feel cruel trying to force them together at this point." Carmilla raised an eyebrow, realizing that she and Laura were the subject of this conversation.

"Frederick, I assure you, things will change when they're a bit older and at point, they will appreciate that they know so much about each other." Carmilla's mother replied calmly.

"And if that never happens?" The king asked. "We'll be forcing our daughters to marry someone they hate!"

The revelation nearly knocked Carmilla off her feet, and she had to clap her hand over her mouth to quiet herself. The last thing she needed now was a good beating for eavesdropping. No, for now, all she needed was to rush up to Laura's room as fast as her legs would carry her, and she was happy that the other girl hadn't returned yet when she arrived and collapsed on her bed in a sobbing mess. Her whole life, she knew that she didn't have much of a say in anything, but the one thing she always clung to was the story of her parents, and how despite what his kingdom wanted, her father waited so long to find the one woman he chose to marry. And now, knowing that such an event would never happen to her, Carmilla could do nothing but cry.

She didn't hear Laura enter, but suddenly there was a small hand on Carmilla's back, instinctively rubbing in circular motions. "Carmilla? Carmilla, are you okay?" Laura asked with concern. The gesture was so different from anything the girls had ever shared in four years. It took Carmilla a moment to pick herself up into a sitting position.

"No, I'm not." She answered finally, and recoiled away from Laura. "I'm not because there's a reason why my mother and your father are always pushing us together. I heard them."

"Why are they doing it?" Laura asked, pushing her hair behind her ears and looking entirely too innocent. Carmilla wondered if she should refrain from telling the truth to the younger girl. Let her enjoy a few more years of ignorance. But deep down, she knew that it would be cruel.

"Our parents-" Carmilla took a deep breath. "-are arranging our marriage." Laura gasped and looked quite horrified at the thought.

"But- but I don't want to marry you!" Had the older girl not been in the same boat as the younger girl only moments before, she possibly would have been offended by Laura likening being married to her to the world ending.

"Believe me when I say that the feeling is mutual." Carmilla put her head in her hands. 

"But they won't make us get married soon, right?" Laura asked, showing her naivety. Carmilla looked up. 

"They're probably just grooming us for it when we're older." She clarified. At this point, Laura began pacing furiously.

"This just doesn't seem like something my father would agree to!"  She now seemed on the verge of tears as well; the betrayal finally setting in.

"I hate to tell you this, but he probably just went along with what my mother proposed. This seems exactly like something she would do." Carmilla sounded legitimately apologetic, which must have been strange for Laura.

Laura seemed confused. "But she seems so nice!" 

Carmilla chuckled. "To you, maybe. If you want, I can show you the marks she left when she caught me trying to borrow books from her office."

Laura's mouth went agape. "That's horrible! Why would she do that?"

"Mother's a fan of obedience." Carmilla bit her lip. "And also power, which is probably why she's having us get married."

"This isn't fair!" Laura was on the verge of throwing a temper tantrum fit for a toddler. 

"No, it isn't. But that's the way it is." Carmilla sighed. Laura stomped into her dressing room and emerged a moment later in her bedclothes.

"This doesn't mean we have to start liking each other or anything, right?" She asked after settling under the covers.

"Absolutely not." Carmilla reassured her and blew out her lamp.

* * *

The rest of that summer went by with Laura and Carmilla both coming to terms with the true nature of their arrangement. Neither of them warmed up to the idea, but they grudgingly accepted their fate, and by the next year, Laura had decided to give up her end of the table so that Carmilla would sit at a reasonable distance from her. But this only succeeded in causing arguments to happen in place of the previous silence.  Typically, they were started by Carmilla and ended by Laura, though it wasn't unusual for the opposite to occur.

Once, Laura's father and Carmilla's mother had rushed in after a shrill shriek from one of the girls, and found a servant drying off Carmilla.

"She threw her drink on me." The older girl explained coolly.

"She insulted my dress." Laura supplied.

As punishment for that incident, the two of them had been forced to spend a day on the lakeside together. 

That particular outing was going rather well until the princesses had been walking barefoot through the shallow water and Laura made a joke about wedding planning, which earned her a shove into the water. When King Frederick asked, Carmilla insisted that it was merely a strong gust of wind that managed to knock only Laura off her feet.

The day after that, there was a picnic prepared for the girls on the front lawn, and they soon caught on that they would be placed in increasingly romantic situations as long as their bad behavior was discovered, so they became discreet. Carmilla occasionally sticking out her foot, causing Laura to trip. Laura "accidentally" knocking Carmilla's glass of red wine onto her new white dress. Carmilla hiding Laura's marionettes in various locations around the castle. Laura removing Carmilla's place-markers from her books. The petty acts continued all summer, and likely would have crossed over into the next year, had it not been for a new addition to the castle, who immediately caught the attention of the eleven-year-old Laura. 

Daniella "Danny" Lawrence was a sixteen-year-old orphan who'd recently joined the Hollis castle guard. Though young, Danny already exhibited the makings of an excellent soldier; intelligence, leadership, loyalty, and a rather impressive physique. None of which went unnoticed by Laura, who had spent most of Carmilla and the queen's arrival staring at the teenager, who'd been tasked with carrying a Hollis banner.

"Does someone have a little infatuation with a guard?" Carmilla asked teasingly that night when she and Laura were preparing for bed.

Laura scoffed, despite the absolute truth in the assumption. "Certainly not. For one, I'm doomed to marry you.

"That doesn't mean you aren't allowed to look." The older girl said nonchalantly before she blew out the lamp on her bedside table.

"But that has to be improper." Laura insisted, thinking back to her lessons that did not involve armed combat.

"It's only improper when you're old enough to understand and act on the feelings you're having. And trust me, Princess-" Carmilla sized Laura up from head to toe. "You're not." The older girl laid down on top of her sheets.

"And you are old enough to understand?" Laura asked. Carmilla smirked.

"Perhaps. I do read quite the array of texts." The thirteen-year-old bragged. "I've certainly read enough to know that you are positively head-over-heels for the firey-haired giant."

Laura was grateful for the darkened room, which hid the way her face turned a vibrant shade of red. "Please, don't mention this to my father."

"I'm not as cruel as you think." Carmilla assured her. "Though I must say that she's far too old for you."

"I'm only looking, remember?" Laura said before turning to her dressing room.

"For now." Carmilla sighed. "Good night, Laura." She said for the first time in six years. The other girl raised an eyebrow, but smiled.

"Good night, Carmilla."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who caught my super subtle Labyrinth reference?


	4. Somebody Bends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every good fairytale needs a few dramatic letters.

The summer after Princess Laura turned twelve was the first since the beginning of the arrangement that she and King Frederick were not joined by the queen and princess of Karnstein. Peasant revolts in the western kingdom just days before Carmilla and her mother were set to leave for Hollis prevented the royal family from leaving their castle, let alone the kingdom. When Laura asked her father about the reason for the uprising, he said only that some didn't approve of the queen regent's policies.

Not satisfied with this answer, Laura asked around the castle until she found a servant who had to make trips to Karnstein for their wares. The servant gave a slightly more specific description how the citizens of Karnstein were being taxed into incredibly levels of poverty. This infuriated the young princess. While Laura loathed to think about her future as Carmilla's wife, she refused to have her future subjects be mistreated and have a poor opinion of her before she even became their queen.

Given that Carmilla and her mother weren't overthrown or killed in the revolt, of course.

Laura wouldn't admit to how much she feared that particular scenario, though her father assured her that everything would be fine. This brought the princess little comfort, and before she knew it, Laura was writing to Carmilla. It was supposed to be a short message; she would merely ask for a status update and then casually wait for a response. But when Laura was actually sat at her desk, stationary in front of her and a quill in her hand, she found herself unable to keep herself from writing more.

_Carmilla,_ _  
I must say that I was somewhat disappointed to hear that you and your mother will not be joining my father and I at our home this season. My father says that there is some kind of revolt amongst your subjects. Is this true? What do they want? In any case, I'm worried about your well-being. Though my concern is likely disproportionate to the actual threat._

_You'll be pleased to know that the weather here has not been to your liking. It's been overwhelmingly hot, and I honestly can't remember when it last rained. I worry that the lake may dry up!_ _My combat training continues and I'm quickly learning to use ranged weapons. Father is having Danny be my private tutor in that regard, and I feel as though she may be the only reason why I'm learning so quickly. But of course, I'm just a child to her._

_Oh, how it hurts to admire someone who will likely never look at me in the same way._

Laura paused before writing the next sentence.

_Have you ever been attracted to someone in this way, Carmilla?_

Laura's quill paused again, wondering if her question was inappropriate for the relationship she and Carmilla shared. She decided to add in something to balance things out.

_Or have you had your nose in books too long to notice?_

_Sincerely,_

_Her Royal Highness, Princess Laura Eleanor of Hollis._  


Laura wrote out her title in a careful, elegant script, and sealed the letter with blue wax and a stamp of her family's crest. She then ran it personally to the pigeon coop in one of the castle's towers.

"I need this to be taken to Princess Carmilla in Karnstein." Laura instructed the keeper and handed him the letter.

"A love note for the princess?" The aging man in charge of the tower asked teasingly. The thought made Laura want to gag.

"Certainly not!" She denied the accusation without hesitation as the man grabbed a pigeon from the cage.

"Should make it to her by tomorrow." The keeper told Laura as he tied the letter to the pigeon.

"Thank you." Laura said, and handed the man a gold coin.

"Oh, your highness, your father pays me to send all the mail you want." He refused, trying to hand Laura's money back to her.

"I know. I'm tipping you for your services." The princess said with a smile. The pigeon keeper shook his head.

"But I make this much in a day's work!" The old man looked around as if one of the superior members of the castle staff would appear.

"Which is precisely why I'm refusing to take it back." Laura remained firm in her stance. "It means more to you than it does to me, so as your future queen, I command that you accept this single coin as a token of my appreciation for helping me correspond with Carmilla." While Laura's words were firm, her face was kind, and the old man's stance soon softened.

"Ye-yes, your highness." The pigeon keeper obeyed the order and placed the coin in his pocket.  
"Excellent, and I hope that you have a fine day." Laura said with a wide smile before turning on her heel and heading back to the tower stairs.

* * *

It took two days for Laura to receive Carmilla's reply, and the first thing the princess noted was how careful the older girl's penmanship was- nothing like how Laura had imagined, given how lazy Carmilla could be.

_Dear Princess Laura,_

_The revolt is due to my mother taxing the people of my kingdom more than usual due to a decline in output from the mines. According to record books I've found in Mother's study, such a thing isn't uncommon, but it does wreck havoc on the economy. The peasants are angry because my father always chose to take a hit to his own coffers in downturns like this, but mother thought taxes would be more practical. In any case, I don't feel as if my own life is in immediate danger, though your concern is much appreciated._

_I am however enjoying my summer at home. It's nice to not fear that my internal organs will bake if I so much as step onto my balcony for a spell. I also enjoy the extra time with my tutors. At this rate, by the time I see you next, I will know four languages!_

_Regarding your infatuation with the guard: yes, you are indeed a child and Danny is far too old for you. However, she will likely notice when the clutches of nature take hold of you in the next year or so. Also, it's best that you don't speak of her in letters to me ever again. My mother intercepts my mail and she was so displeased that she revealed the true nature of my relationship with you. If you wish to tell me about the giantess, even though I don't care, then use a sort of code._

_And to answer your other question, no, I've never been in love and I likely never will. If that's because I'm well-educated, then so be it._

_Princess Carmilla too many names of Karnstein_

The joke in Carmilla's signature was lost to Laura, who was already thinking of what she would write back. The queen reading her private message made the princess feel wrong inside, and she could only hope that there was no mention of it to her father, who would likely have Danny stationed in the middle of Hollis Lake if he found out. Laura took Carmilla's advice and thought of a code word to replace Danny's name, (Chocolate) then sat down at her desk.

Thus began the series of letters that were initially intended to last the summer, and then eventually continued on until the week before Carmilla was to return to Hollis.

_Dear Carmilla,_

_Oh, what a day it's been, for I was absolutely stunned to find out that you are the person I am to marry! My father gave me this most shocking news after dessert this evening and I am assuming that it isn't news to you, of course, as you are older and wiser than I am._

_I look forward to when we meet again because you know how I adore you so. Almost as much as I adore chocolate. My father couldn't have possibly picked a more suitable person for me to marry!_

_Though, it's rather interesting. By now, your bed would have been moved into my chambers, but when I asked my father about it, he said that you were to get your own room this season. I simply wonder why that is._

_Yours,_

_Laura_

This letter, like all of her others, was delivered by Laura's pigeon keeper, who now protested weakly with every gold coin that was placed into his hand. And like always, Carmilla's reply arrived a few days later.

_Dear Laura,_

_So your father finally told you? I suppose it's a good thing, if not a bit long-coming. Also, I must say that the amount of sarcasm in your last letter was so excessive that I'm surprised Mother didn't catch on._ _  
With regards to our new sleeping arrangement... I believe your father is attempting to preserve your innocence. I am now fifteen, which is an age at which some peasants will marry and have children. At thirteen, you are walking the border between adult and child, which can be even more dangerous. Your father wishes to prevent us from fornicating._

_Oh, I truly hate that word._

_I hope I haven't poisoned your mind, though I believe the book I recommended after the time you thought you were bleeding internally should have somewhat prepared you for things like this. And no, that will never stop being amusing. Someday, I hope you will also realize that referring to Danny, the person you desperately wish would whisk you away from the training yard and kiss you with the heat of the sun, as chocolate is amusingly inappropriate._

_I strangely look forward to when we next meet. These four walls are growing tiresome and I wish to expand my reading material to the books found in your castle. I hope that's alright._

_Your adoring fiancée,_

_Carmilla_

* * *

 

"Hello, Lawrence!" Carmilla brightly greeted the red-haired Hollis castle guard who'd been tasked with helping her out of her carriage. "You've been promoted, I see!"

Apparently detecting the princess's tone as something less than genuine, Danny plastered a smile on her face. "It's flattering that you remember me, Your Highness." She said quietly as she held out her hand for Carmilla to take. 

"How could I forget someone like you?" The princess smiled at the way the guard bit her bottom lip, but as soon as she was on the ground, Carmilla and her escort looked to the front gate. She couldn't help the rush of happiness that came when she locked eyes on Laura. The elder princess told herself that it was because the girl was familiar, and that if she was going to be forced to be involved with the imp, at least it wouldn't take days for an answer to an inquiry. But an odd feeling came over her. One she couldn't describe.

"How nice to see you again, Carmilla." Laura greeted Carmilla when she approached, sounding more genuine than ever before.

"It's nicer to see you." Carmilla responded calculatedly, quickly glancing up at the pleased face of King Frederick before kissing Laura's hand. "Your letters were a constant delight to me."

The king raised an eyebrow. "Letters?" He asked, apparently unaware of this development in his daughter's courtship.

"Yes. Carmilla and Laura have been writing letters to each other since the peasant uprising last summer." The queen supplied. "It's sweet, don't you think?" 

The king nodded hesitatedly. "Laura, why don't you show Carmilla to her new room? I'm sure she will find it to her liking."

The younger princess's cheeks turned a shade of pink when she recalled the subject matter of Carmilla's last letter. "Of course." She said with a forced smile.

* * *

"Your father seems like he is having doubts about our arrangement." Carmilla mentioned casually over dinner that night. Laura nodded once.

"I think the reality of the situation is probably setting in for him. I will be a suitable marrying age in three years." Laura took a long drink of water from her glass.

Carmilla laughed. "If he thinks that I will be marrying you in three years, he's mistaken." She stabbed at the meat on her plate.

"It's not as if we have a choice." Laura sighed, then gestured at what Carmilla was doing. "And stop that! Your table manners are appalling."

Carmilla rolled her eyes and set her knife down. "I meant that I won't be marrying anyone until I am of age to take the throne. Considering that it will give your father an extra three years of you being all his, I'm sure he won't mind."

"I don't belong to my father and I certainly will never belong to you. I'm not cattle."  Laura pushed her plate away from her, apparently losing her appetite.

Carmilla smiled to herself, unused to this side of Laura. "I understand that. I was speaking from the point of view of your father, who hasn't let you make your own decisions since the day you were born." She began folding her napkin elaborately. "My mother has done the same with me. Like it or not, we do belong to our parents, and we're just chess pieces in their politics. I know that you're still a child, but the sooner you realize that, the more you can do about it."

Laura was uncharacteristically silent  until it was time for the girls to retire to their respective rooms for the evening. The younger girl stood and started toward the dining room's doors, but paused and turned around.

"You're right. I hate admitting it, but you're right. If you are able to postpone our wedding until I'm nineteen years old, I'll be grateful." She turned back around and had the door open by the time Carmilla had hurried to her feet.

"Laura, wait!" She called after the younger girl. Laura turned around to face Carmilla.

"I don't-" Carmilla struggled to find the words. "I don't want you to feel like marrying me will take away the last of your agency. Once we're married, you aren't obligated to do anything for me. Hell, if you want to take on a mistress or ten, I would turn a blind eye. This situation is unfair for the both of us, but it doesn't have to stop us from being happy." 

Laura nodded once. "Thank you, Carmilla." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I doubt I will ever wish to take on ten mistresses, but I appreciate the sentiment. And know that I wish the same for you."

"Ten mistresses merely sounds exhausting." Carmilla chuckled.

"I mean that I want you to be happy." Laura clarified, and gave Carmilla a small smile before vacating the dining room.

* * *

Another summer passed quite easily. Laura and Carmilla were allowed far more distance from each other than ever before, which led to less petty arguments between them. The forced outings orchestrated by the king and queen never ceased to be awkward, but every once in a while, one princess would make the other laugh or smile.

Neither girl had noticed how comfortable they'd become with each other until it was a month after Carmilla and her mother had returned to Karnstein, and Laura found it strange eating meals with only her father for company. Carmilla found herself bored on a sunny day when she and Laura would have been forced to have a picnic together, or go shopping in the town.

Not even new philosophy texts remedied this feeling, and soon Carmilla found herself resuming her and Laura's old letter-writing habit. But just after she had sealed the envelope, her mother had appeared at the door of her bedroom.

"A letter from Princess Laura." The queen said with a smug smile as she handed her daughter an envelope with a broken seal. The princess waited until her mother had left her alone before she pulled the letter out with more zeal than she would ever care to admit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the childhood part of this story is taking longer than originally anticipated, but expect the action to kick in in a couple chapters. I might also change the rating for some stuff to come (sexy stuff and violent stuff).


	5. Of Dances and Swordfights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, but it's by far the longest chapter yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suppose I should also warn you all that there is Hollence in this chapter. But don't worry, they aren't together past this chapter.

At age 22, Daniella Lawrence was to become the youngest Captain of the Guard in Hollis history. The young woman had proven herself an incredibly diligent and loyal soldier to the crown in the six years since she'd enlisted, and it only came as a slight shock when her ailing senior officer had named her as his successor over any of the other guardspeople. Following the announcement in early June, Princess Laura had made a suggestion that a ball should be thrown in the new captain's honor. Her reasoning of course being that Captain Lawrence's achievement was no small feat, and that a ball would be a delight for the royal guests from Karnstein. Reluctantly, her father agreed.

King Frederick, however, was oblivious to the fact that his seventeen-year-old daughter had ulterior motives, and he failed to notice anything amiss until the night of the ball, when neither Laura, nor the guest of honor could be found.

"We really shouldn't be doing this." Danny said in a breath before the princess' mouth was on hers again, and she was being pushed into the smaller girl's massive bedroom. "We could be caught at any moment." Danny's protests were met with Laura one-handedly slamming the door shut before pushing the captain into a sitting position on her bed.

From where she sat in the candlelit room, Danny could fully appreciate Laura's light blue ball gown, which clung to her in a way that would be considered mildly scandalous in any number of kingdoms, including Hollis. The ensemble was a far cry from the princess' everyday attire, which typically was for the benefit of easy movement in combat training. Though Danny had to admit that Laura was beautiful either way.

"Do you like the view, Captain Lawrence?" Laura all but purred as she stepped slowly toward the bed. Until this night, nothing between her and Danny had gone beyond stealing kisses during training sessions, but the queen and princess of Karnstein's presence in the past week or so had made such activities nearly impossible. Feeling pent-up, one kiss had led Laura and Danny to this.

"Yes." Danny whispered, and licked her lips. Laura smirked at the reaction she elicited.

"Because I must admit that your new uniform suits you." Laura tentatively reached out to where the captain's medal was pinned to the breast of Danny's coat. She stroked the rank marker with one finger before moving her hand up to cup Danny's cheek. "You are so beautiful." Laura whispered, leaning in and kissing her guard again, with more ferocity than before. Danny's lips parted ever so slightly, allowing Laura's tongue to slip past them. Nothing about the situation was proper for the princess at all, but neither girl cared.

Danny felt herself being pushed onto her back, and soon Laura had her legs on either side of her. "Are you sure?" The red-haired woman asked, to which the princess nodded and leaned down to kiss her again with much enthusiasm.

Danny felt Laura's hand travel up to unfasten the buttons of her coat, and the princess made quick work of it, soon pushing the garment off Danny's shoulders. In turn, the guard's hands moved up and down Laura's back until she found where she could gain access to the dress. After Danny's fingers had deftly untied the garment (her extensive rope-tying in basic training finally had been put to good use), she used her considerable strength to flip the princess onto her back. Danny's heart nearly pounded out of her chest at the sight of Laura's light brown hair splayed around her and the candle light of the room giving her summer-tanned skin a golden glow.

"I could be court marshaled for this." Danny whispered before leaning down to kiss Laura again, this time bringing her hand up to the princess' chest, massaging and earning a loud moan from the smaller girl. The captain broke the kiss and moved her lips to Laura's ear. "That's not very princess-like, Your Highness."

Laura smiled deviously, and before she knew it, Danny found hers and Laura's positions reversed once again. "Good." Laura hissed before hungrily going at Danny's neck.

"You've been practicing your disarming techniques." The captain gasped, though truthfully, her mind was thinking of far different things.

"Mmmhmmm." Laura admitted, and her hand snaked down to the buttons of Danny's breeches. 

Neither girl seemed to notice that they were no longer alone in the room.

"I thought I would find the two of you here." The familiar, velvety voice caused Laura to leap away from Danny with the speed of a spooked horse, and the captain's face was beet red when she met the eyes of Princess Carmilla.

"Carmilla, we were just-" Laura started, but her long-time intended held up a hand.

"It's not my place to judge either of you." The older princess insisted, though something in her voice seemed off to Danny and Laura both. "I merely came looking for you because your absences are quite apparent at the ball."

Danny stood and retrieved her coat. "Then I suppose we should head back there, then." She cleared her throat. "Would your highnesses like me to escort you?"

Carmilla gave Danny the most strained smile the guard had ever laid eyes on. "As lovely as that sounds, it would be suspicious for the two of you to return together. Especially with Princess Laura in this state." She gestured at Laura's mussed hair and falling-down ball gown. "I'll attempt to make my fiancée presentable again while you return to the party."

Laura bit her lip at the title Carmilla gave her, but nodded reluctantly. "She's right, Danny. My father would throw a fit of he were to see me like this. You go back the ball; it _is_ your party."

"Alright." The captain agreed, and ran her hands through her hair in an attempt to make it look like it had before. "I'll see the both of you in the ballroom."

She made her way to the door, glancing back once to see Carmilla begin to re-lace Laura's dress. Briefly, an expression that could only be hurt crossed the older princess' face, but then it was gone.

* * *

"I think you tied it too tight." Laura complained through her smile to Carmilla as the two of them re-entered the party with their arms linked.

"I'm a princess, not a handmaiden. Maybe if you wanted it done better, you should have controlled yourself for the evening." Carmilla replied bitterly, and gave a faux-polite wave to Danny as an added measure. 

"Stop that!" Laura jabbed her elbow into Carmilla's ribs.

"Stop what?" You're the one that made this an awkward situation." Carmilla glanced around the ballroom at all of the faces of unfamiliar nobles. "And you also left me here with little to no information about these people." Carmilla herself knew that the grievance didn't sound particularly genuine, but it was indeed a dilemma she'd been facing the whole night.

Laura sighed and nodded toward a middle-aged couple speaking with her father. "Those are the Duke and Duchess of Crowley, a province of Hollis that lies on the south side of the lake. They have one daughter, your age, though she's been battling some ailments for quite some time and they've prevented her from leaving her home."

"Alright." Carmilla said, and tried to identify something about the couple that would make them memorable for her. "How about him?"  She gestured at a gangly young man in a guards uniform similar to Danny's. He was shoving hors d'oeuvres  into his mouth with a sour look on his face.

"Lieutenant Kirsch." Laura said simply. "He was the only other likely choice for a promotion, had it not gone to Danny."

"Which would explain why he's drowning his sorrows in stuffed mushrooms." Carmilla assumed.

Laura giggled. "Yes."

"Are you familiar with every person in attendance tonight?" Carmilla was obviously impressed, but Laura smiled modestly.

"Oh, of course not! People bring unfamiliar dates and it completely throws me off." Carmilla rolled her eyes at how easy this apparently came to Laura, but her attention was soon drawn to her mother, seated firmly in one of the two thrones at the head of the ballroom. The queen slowly raised her hand, and beckoned her daughter; a request which couldn't be refused.

"It appears we have an audience with my mother." Carmilla whispered to Laura, whose gaze shifted quickly to the queen before looking back at the older princess and nodding. The girls, with their arms still interlocked, moved relatively easily through the crowd, with only a few people left staring at them. By now, it was a well-known fact that the two were supposed to marry in a few years time. Naturally, since the kingdoms merging would affect them all.

"Hello, dears." Carmilla's mother greeted the girls once they were within earshot.

"Mother."

"Your Majesty." The girls replied. 

"It appears Carmilla found you, Laura." The queen stated. Her shining white smile was unsettling for Carmilla. Usually, her mother smiled only when things were particularly tense.

"Um, yes, I escaped for some air." Laura lied. Had she not known this for a fact, Carmilla still would have been able to tell by the way Laura's eyes didn't meet the queen's once. "Carmilla found me on my balcony."

The queen nodded, but Carmilla could tell she wasn't convinced. "Captain Lawrence was also missing for a time, though she returned a short while before the two of you." The queen stated nonchalantly. "Silly of her to leave her own ball."

Carmilla looked down at the marble floor. "Perhaps Captain Lawrence isn't used to the attention?" She suggested.

The queen pursed her lips in the way she did when Carmilla was small and had lied about being sick to get out of lessons. In fact, Carmilla noticed that in comparison to King Frederick, whose once blonde hair had gone gray, and his face wrinkled in recent years, the queen of Karnstein still seemed as youthful as ever. It had simply escaped her daughter, who saw her every day of her life. This pondering, however, had caused Carmilla to lose focus on the conversation around her until Laura had jabbed her ribs again.

"Yes?" She asked, confused.

The queen sighed at having to repeat herself. "I suggested that you ask Laura to dance?"   
Carmilla nodded furiously to compensate. "Yes, of course." She turned to Laura and held out her open hand. "May I have this dance, Princess Laura?"

Laura rolled her eyes at the mock formality, but took Carmilla's hand. "You may." The girls walked hand in hand onto the dance floor, stopping only when Carmilla knew that her mother wouldn't be able to hear them. "Do you think she suspects anything?" Laura said just loud enough for her dance partner and nobody else. In truth, Carmilla didn't know. Everything about her mother's body language was an alarm, but she thought she could give Laura a break.

"No." Carmilla lied, and stepped in front of Laura, putting one hand on the small of the younger girl's back and holding up the other.

Laura sighed and interlocked their hands hesitantly, but only moments later, Carmilla sharply drew her closer. "Proper waltz form." She whispered when Laura's chest was touching hers.

"I know." Laura replied, obviously trying to sound casual, though her cheeks faintly flushed pink.

"Good." Carmilla waited for a good time in the song that the orchestra was playing before she stepped off of the beat, leading Laura in a more graceful waltz than any other in the ballroom.

"So how long have you and Danny been together?" The older girl asked when she knew that no other person could hear her but Laura.

The younger girl hesitated. "Five months." She answered eventually. "I neglected to mention it because I figured you wouldn't care to know."

Carmilla unconsciously bit her lower lip. "Of course I don't." She insisted. "It's simply pertinent information so that I'm not blindsided to find you bedding a castle guard."

"I technically wasn't bedding her, yet." Laura grumbled, sounding annoyed. "But you're absolutely right." Carmilla twirled her once. "And now that you know, I'm assuming that the agreement we came to regarding this sort of thing comes into play, yes?"

Carmilla was surprised that Laura even remembered their brief conversation on the subject, but she sighed. "Yes, it does. And I'll have you know that I still wish for you to be happy."

Laura smiled genuinely. "Thank you, Carmilla."

She may have gone on, but she was soon interrupted. "I also stand by what I said about Danny being too old for you." Carmilla added to her previous statement.

Laura rolled her eyes. "It's a pathetic reason to disapprove. Just look at the Countess and Count of the Zetan Flatlands!" She gestured at a couple dancing near them. The woman appeared to be old enough to be the man's mother.

"It doesn't mean that I approve of such a thing for you. As much as I loath to admit it, I care about your well-being." Carmilla regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. Especially when Laura cocked an eyebrow and smiled.

"Is that so?" The princess of Hollis teased, though the look on her face was more one of surprise than of mocking.

"You're my future wife; of course I care." Carmilla dipped Laura. "But if you wish to continue your liaison with the good captain, then I suppose that I can't and won't stop you."The orchestra finished their song and moved onto another piece, this more slow than the last. Carmilla adjusted their dance into a simple sway.

"Then I'm glad we had this discussion. In the future, please knock before barging into my quarters." Laura requested, making an effort to not look into Carmilla's eyes.

"Understood." The older girl agreed and continued to dance with Laura while giving off little emotion. The younger girl however failed to notice Carmilla's eyes wandering around the ballroom, seeking just the right person.

Nearly two songs later, she stopped leading the dance.

"Is there something wrong?" Laura asked and Carmilla shook her head, gesturing at an attractive but scowling blonde girl seated at one of the tables.

"Who is that?" Carmilla inquired innocently enough.

"Princess Elsie of the Summer Islands." Laura supplied.

"Is she married?" Carmilla checked.

"Not yet. The Summer Islands is quite matriarchal and-" Laura hadn't finished her answer when Carmilla rudely released her and began to walk toward the girl, whose expression improved significantly upon her approach.

"Hello." Carmilla greeted her politely. "Would you care to dance?" The blonde didn't hesitate in answering by nodding enthusiastically and taking Carmilla's hand, leading the brunette onto the dance floor. 

Elsie's steps were far less precise than Carmilla's when she led, but the princess of Karnstein made a point to smile broadly when she caught the eyes of Laura, currently being forced to dance with the ancient General Spielsdorf, of Fort Lustig in Karnstein.

To Carmilla's admittedly-petty delight, Laura seemed jealous.

* * *

"And then-" Laura swung her sword at Danny, who blocked masterfully. "-She left me to go dance with the sour-faced princess from the Summer Islands." Laura stepped forward as Danny took a step back, then swung again. This time, Danny dodged it in the nick of time. "Who was all over her, I might add."

Danny frowned and attempted to counter Laura's attack, but was too slow, and steel met steel. "Why does it bother you so much?" The captain asked, feeling exhausted after the party the night before, and wishing only to end Laura's combat training early for once.

"Because she was clearly doing it to irritate me! Which meant that I eventually had to dance with Kirsch!" Danny's mild repulsion caused Laura to be able to place the tip of her sword to her mentor's throat. "I win."  

"As always." Danny sighed, and Laura giggle as she made her way to a table containing a pitcher of water.

"I'm telling you, Danny. You may mock my height, but I think it gives me an advantage." Laura poured two goblets and brought one to the redhead.

"Perhaps." Danny conceded without a fight, and gulped her water eagerly.

"Unless you wish to attempt to disprove my theory." Laura challenged, already reaching for her sword again. 

"Or we could consider this the end of your training today?" Danny offered in a way that sounded more like a plea, and set down her water goblet. "We were interrupted last night and I very much doubt there's truly anything more I can teach you..." Her voice trailed off as she moved closer to Laura.

Danny's lips nearly touched the princess' when the heavy doors of the training room were pushed open with great force.

"Always." Laura sighed, and moved away from Danny, grateful that they were at least out of sight for the next few seconds.

The heavy steps of legs wearing steel greaves was a typical indicator of a castle guard, but to the surprise of Danny and Laura, Carmilla appeared from around the corner, struggling to put a vambrace on her left arm. "Infernal thing!" She muttered angrily under her breath before finally managing to fasten it.

Laura mimicked her father and cleared her throat. "Carmilla?" She said quietly to get the girl's attention.

"Yes, my darling?" Carmilla replied sarcastically, walking to the weapons wall and picking up a longsword that was entirely too big for her.

"Forgive me for asking, but why are you here?" Laura somewhat attempted to hide her annoyance, but Danny could hear the audible sigh she let out when Carmilla swung the sword, knocking over a suit of old armor. 

Carmilla quickly replaced her weapon with a broadsword better suited for her size. "I've decided that I shouldn't let my skills just sit while I'm stuck here for another two months." She swung at the air as if she were holding a club. 

Danny rubbed her temple. "Would you like me to train you?" She offered out of courtesy, to which Laura's eyes widened and she shook her head no.

Carmilla put up a hand. "No need. I've been trained in basic combat back in Karnstein." Danny and Laura exchanged a look, clearly not believing her. "Not to mention that I've apparently inherited my father's strength, which was supposedly legendary. Though truthfully, I have some trouble remembering him."

To prove her point, Carmilla swung her sword at the neck of a training dummy made of chainmail and stuffed with straw, smiling when she sliced its head clean off with little effort on her part.

"Um..." Danny stammered, struggling to keep her mouth closed. The display was entirely unlike the bookish princess Laura always described.

"That was an old, rusty thing anyway." Laura piped up, retrieving her sword and making a show of her well-trained stance. "Brute force can only take you so far in combat."

Carmilla raised an eyebrow and smirked, raising her own weapon. "Then how about the two of us have a little sparring match?" She proposed. Danny's blood instantly ran cold as she imagined Laura up against Carmilla, who was apparently freakishly Herculean.

 "Or perhaps you could spar with me instead?" Danny didn't know if it was the side of her that was Laura's Captain of the Guard, or the side that was Laura's lover that made her speak up, but either way, Laura wasn't pleased. The princess gave Danny a look that made it known that the two would be having a conversation later before looking back at Carmilla.

"No, I insist on dueling with Laura." Carmilla grinned and cocked her head to the side. "What do you say, Darling?" 

"I accept." Laura said proudly and without hesitation. She pointed her sword to a safe place for Danny to stand, and the guard did as she was told, trying to calm down the anxiety she felt for Laura.

"An honorable fight, then?" Carmilla clarified.

"Yes." Laura got into a starting stance. "Danny, you can be the official." 

The redhead sighed. "Positions." She watched as Carmilla lazily held her blade over her shoulder. "Fight!"

Laura charged at Carmilla, bringing swinging her sword at the glaring holes in the older girl's defense. Unexpectedly, Carmilla blocked at last minute, pushing with all her strength and breaking Laura's attack. She then swung full-force at Laura's abdomen, giving the princess mere moments to jump backwards out of the way.  Danny sighed with relief.

"I don't understand your behavior recently." Laura said casually as she successfully struck Carmilla in the arm, but the other princess came right back with a blow to Laura's chestpiece.

"And how exactly would you describe my behavior?" Carmilla asked as she brought her sword down again, going at Laura's shoulder. The girl spun out of the way with such agility that it almost looked as if she were dancing.

"Insufferable, callous, unfaithful." Laura named off a different adjective for every time she quickly swung at Carmilla in succession, with each hit making contact only with Carmilla's sword.

"Our agreement goes both ways, dearest." Carmilla purred. "Though I do find it quite amusing that you're so affected by one dance." She added, and Laura's sword came at her face.

As the physical and verbal attacks between the princesses became more and more violent, Danny considered stepping in, though she feared that getting in the middle of their quarrel would cause her to be inadvertently killed.

"Green isn't a very pretty color on you." Carmilla laughed, and Laura snarled.

"It doesn't look particularly good on you either, Carm." Danny suddenly felt as if she was witnessing something she shouldn't. But in an instant, Carmilla had performed a whirling takedown, knocking Laura's feet out from under her.

"It appears you've lost." Carmilla bragged as she held her sword over Laura's neck. She crouched down and whispered something that was inaudible to Danny, but an instant after, Laura gasped in outrage, and her metal-clad feet drove into Carmilla's stomach, knocking the air out of her and sending her careening to the stone floor.

Laura was back on her feet in an instant, dusting herself off while Carmilla struggled to regain her breath. "Never assume that a victim is completely at your mercy." Laura said with a smile and returned to Danny.

"Not. Fair." Carmilla gasped as Laura took the captain by the arm and led her out of earshot.

"Next time, please don't try to fight my battles for me. I know that it's your job to protect me, but I am not a child and I can make my own decisions." Laura said quickly, clearly not impressed with Danny's earlier display. The redhead remained silent, knowing that there was more. "And I care for you, truly, but you have to know the distinction between shielding me and standing by my side."

"I...I apologize." Danny muttered, knowing she'd truly messed things up.

"I know." Laura sighed, and glanced over at Carmilla, who was still struggling to get up. "Would you please make sure that she's alright?" Danny nodded, and Laura made her leave, unfastening her armor as she walked.

After a moment, Danny went to stand over Carmilla, who seemed to be breathing normally again. "There's little she hates more than defeat." The redhead laughed as if her previous conversation with Laura hadn't happened, and held out a hand to help the princess of Karnstein to her feat. Carmilla glared and pushed herself up independently.

"Yes, that's apparent. Almost as much as she hates me bragging about bedding the Summer Islander." Carmilla chuckled, but the action seemed to cause her pain.

"Is that what you whispered to her?" Danny was quickly realizing that Laura's descriptions of Carmilla's personality hadn't been exaggerations.

"It was really more of an implication." Carmilla grumbled, and began taking off her own armor.

Danny rolled her eyes. Truly, the gods above were quite cruel to tie Laura's fate to someone like Carmilla. "Do you feel like you need to see the castle physician?" Danny indicated Carmilla's abdomen, but the princess shook her head.

"Only a bruise." She insisted.

"Then you're capable of getting to your room?"  Danny checked, thinking as the captain of the guard rather than the jealous lover.

"Unless you're offering to carry me, Giantess..."

Danny turned on her heel without another word.

* * *

It had been almost two weeks since the incident in the training room, but Laura found herself continuing to avoid Danny and Carmilla at all costs. She'd initially intended to forgive Danny without delay; after all, Danny had been Laura's guard longer than she'd been her close companion and she couldn't fully blame her for having trouble distinguishing between the roles. But after some thought, Laura realized that there was something that she just didn't like about Danny fighting her battles for her. It brought her back to the night when Carmilla told her that whether she liked it or not, somebody owned her.

However, avoiding both her betrothed, and the head castle guard proved difficult when it came to finding places to pass the time. Specifically, places where they wouldn't "accidentally" run into her.

That particular day in late July, Laura was in her father's study, rifling through history books.

They all were filled with relatively boring things she'd already heard before, and Laura was strongly considering changing hiding places when she came across a book detailing the region's history around two centuries prior. It intrigued her to find out that there was a time before when the lands of Hollis and Karnstein had been joined in a marriage.

However, the marriage only lasted a fortnight, at which time the lover of the prince of Hollis stormed the castle with an army of possessed creatures. It turned out that she was a sorceress that was none too keen to be passed over for a land agreement, and on the night she attacked the castle, the sorceress succeeded in slaying only the princess of Karnstein before being defeated in battle by the prince of Hollis.

Laura was about to read about what became of the vanquished sorceress when the study's door creaked open, and she barely had time to mark her place in the book before slamming it shut.

"Found you." The intruder boasted. Laura rolled her eyes at Carmilla.

"I don't wish to be disturbed. Especially by you." She rose from her chair and put the book back in its place on her father's shelf.

"I'm here to apologize." Carmilla immediately cut to the chase. She apparently knew better than to say anything else to Laura at that point.

Laura cocked an eyebrow. "Oh?" This was certainly something she wasn't used to hearing from Carmilla.

"Yes." Carmilla placed a hand on the side of her head as she found her words. "I wasn't on my best behavior at the ball and I was even worse in our sparring session."

Laura nodded. "Go on." She urged, and Carmilla rolled her eyes.

"I know that I told you years ago that I would be fine with you being with other people, but I suppose that my perspective changed somewhat when I actually witnessed you being...intimate with someone else." Carmilla's voice lacked its usual aloofness, which resonated with Laura more than she could have ever anticipated.

"And why is that, exactly? Because you don't approve of Danny, or you don't approve of anyone?" Laura asked, turning away from Carmilla to walk toward the window on the opposite end of the room. Carmilla followed, and when Laura finally turned to her again, she took the younger girl's hand in her own. The gesture was strangely intimate for the two of them, even after months of pretending to have given in to the idea of being future spouses.

"I suppose it's because I've grown quite fond of you." Carmilla murmured, and Laura wasn't sure why her heart began pounding like the hooves of a race horse.

"You've grown...fond of me?" She wanted to be certain she'd heard correctly.

"Yes." Carmilla's always-pale face flushed red, and she turned toward the window.

But as much as Laura desperately wished to take what she could get from Carmilla, who before didn't seem to have a romantic bone in her body, she refused to give in that easy.

"I'm fond of pastries, Carmilla. It doesn't mean that I would have a happy marriage with a chocolate croissant." The corners of Carmilla's mouth crept upward at this.

"Well, you and I do have the added advantage of both being sentient human beings." The older girl quipped, and her intended giggled.

"This is true." Laura bit her lip and contemplated her next move. She gently reached out taking Carmilla's hand and coaxing her to look into her eyes. "And if you must know, then I suppose that I've taken a strange liking to you as well."

Carmilla smirked. "Have you?" She asked teasingly, and Laura lightly whacked her shoulder.

"And if it's truly what you want, then I'll end things with Danny." The younger girl finished. This took Carmilla entirely off-guard.

 "Are you serious?" She asked.

Laura sighed. "I'm going to be married to you for most of my life. I can't have you resenting me for being with someone else."  
Carmilla nodded, obviously trying to hide the great pleasure she was getting from this turn of events. "That's quite honorable of you."

"Yes, it is." Laura agreed, still not entirely believing that she'd let the words escape her mouth. Despite her recent grievances with Danny, Laura still cared for her dearly. But in truth, when she envisioned her future with Carmilla, Laura found that for the first time, it didn't seem so bleak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will try to get the next chapter up soon. I especially have more time to write now that I'm on winter break.


	6. Love and Loss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we are. The chapter you've all been waiting for. A lot happens.

"Again!" Danny shouted forcefully from inside a full suit of reinforced armor.

Laura, exhausted mentally and physically, felt her muscles protest when she swung her sword at her mentor with everything she had. The harsh sound of steel on steel rang through the training room as her sword met nothing more than a lightning-fast block from Danny.

"Again!" The captain demanded once more.

"I can't!" The princess shouted back, pain seeming to radiate from everywhere. They had to have been at this for at least three hours.

"Yes, you can. When you're up against a real enemy, they will not show you mercy. You have to fight every battle as if your life depended on it. Even with me, here in this room." Danny raised her sword. "Try to hit me again." Laura shook her head. "Hit me or I'm keeping you here an extra hour." Danny warned.

Laura gave her trainer a blank stare, finding herself wishing that she hadn't ended things between them. In the year since, Danny's harsh training sessions had caused Laura to put on enough muscle to no longer fit into most of her dresses. "I will tell my father." The low road didn't look so bad to Laura when it felt as if her arms would just fall off.

"And your father would agree with me." Danny insisted, at which the princess rolled her eyes. She could list on one hand all of the times her father's paranoia had actually been of use.

"I hit you once and I can leave?" Laura clarified as an idea struck.

"That's right." Danny confirmed, the look on her face saying that she was curious as to what was up Laura's sleeve.

"Alright." Laura raised her sword, breathing in deeply before hurling it at Danny's chest piece as if it were a harpoon.

The guard was knocked onto her back at the unexpected impact. "Clever." She laughed from the floor. "Dirty, but clever."

"Until tomorrow, Captain Lawrence." Laura bid Danny farewell while trying to contain her laughter. However, once she made it to the corridor leading to her room, the day's exercise had caught back up with her, and she was practically crawling when she reached the door to her room- which was left conspicuously ajar.

"Hard day?" Carmilla greeted Laura from where she lounged on the bed. The room's owner frowned with confusion.

"What are you doing in here?" She asked, and Carmilla smiled broadly.

"Oh, you know, just searching for the journal that contains your deepest, darkest secrets." Carmilla said with a shrug, and Laura gave her a stony expression. "You and I had a picnic scheduled for this afternoon."

Laura gasped when she remembered that this was true. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Carmilla! Danny kept me longer than I thought and I suppose it slipped my mind and-"

Carmilla put up a hand. "It's fine, really. I'm not particularly fond of soggy sandwiches anyway." Her eyes moved downward to Laura's legs, apparently noticing the way they were shaking under Laura's weight. "Though I think you should probably sit down." She pushed herself up into a sitting position and patted the bed.

This seemed silly to Laura considering it was her bed in the first place, but her joints ached far too much to not do as Carmilla suggested. "Danny had me working on offensive maneuvers for three hours." She groaned, feeling the need to vent her pain to someone.

"And you were able to walk back here?" Carmilla seemed amazed.

"Not without difficulty." Laura laughed and began moving her shoulders back and forth in an effort to alleviate some of the tension built up in them. "I ended up throwing my sword at Danny to get her to let me leave." 

Carmilla laughed unnecessarily hard at this.  "I would pay my weight in gold to see that." She sighed, and gestured at Laura's current action. "Would you like me to help you with that?"

Laura raised an eyebrow. "How, exactly?"

Without a word, Carmilla moved closer until she was sitting just behind Laura, then placed her hands on the younger girl's shoulders. "As you probably know, my father was old-" Carmilla began kneading the muscles in Laura's shoulders. "-and his servants were all trained to help him with his back troubles." 

"Feels...so good." Laura moaned, not able to see the smirk on Carmilla's face.

"Anyway, the skills never left them and they found that massage was one of the few things that would calm me down from a temper tantrum. I picked up on how to do it after a while." Carmilla finished her explanation and Laura smiled contently.

"Do send them my regards." Laura said, then moaned loudly when Carmilla began working out a particularly bad knot.

"Careful, dear. Wouldn't want anyone to get the wrong idea about what we're doing in here." Carmilla teased, and Laura's eyes went wide with realization.

"Oh gods." Her face turned a vibrant red and she turned her head to look at Carmilla. "You don't think anyone heard me, do you?"

Carmilla shrugged. "Who's to say, Buttercup?" 

Laura buried her head in her hands. "I'm so embarrassed."

"Honestly, I don't see why you're making a big fuss of this. We have been promised to each other for over thirteen years and are both of a perfectly suitable marrying age for any class of people. I'm almost certain that your servants assume we've been intimate with each other." Carmilla's cavalier response came in direct contrast to Laura, whose embarrassment increased exponentially.

"How is it that you can find the most innocent term for something and still make it sound worse than anything else?" Laura asked. She shifted uncomfortably under Carmilla's hands, which now suddenly felt white hot.

"Truly, it's a gift." Carmilla sighed and apparently took Laura's body language as a sign to withdraw her hands. "Better?"

Laura flexed her muscles, feeling relief when the pain from before was diminished dramatically. "Yes, thank you." Carmilla nodded and moved to get off of the bed. Laura frowned. "Where are you going?"

"I was- well, I assumed that you might like to nap before dinner tonight." Carmilla explained. Her hands were tense at her sides.  
Laura shook her head. "If I sleep now, I'll have a terrible time with going to bed at a reasonable hour." She shifted her body so that she could draw her legs closer to her chest. "You can stay for a while if you'd like."

Carmilla's face only slightly succeeded in hiding her surprise at the offer. "I'd like that very much."

* * *

 

It didn't start off as a particularly unusual day. Carmilla had awoken to tea brought by servants, and the realization that it was just two weeks before she would return to Karnstein. 

In the past, this would have been something worth celebrating, but now, with her ever-changing relationship with Laura and the realization that this would be the last time she would return home without a wife in tow, her thoughts were deviating from the joy of her impending return to her own bed and library. The thought alone of her fast-approaching wedding was enough to give the sensation of not butterflies, but rabid bats in the princess' stomach. But for just one moment in one day, Carmilla was able to forget all of this.

Laura and Carmilla had been planning their own outings together for the past week. Achieving this freedom was easier than anticipated, as Laura had said that at nearly nineteen years old, she shouldn't have prescheduled play dates like a toddler, and Carmilla had said that she was tired of soggy sandwiches. To the princesses' surprise, the king and queen relented without contest. Though, King Frederick had insisted that they stay away from any situation that had even the potential for danger.

Thus, the girls found themselves walking through the gardens, attempting to engage in casual conversation while trying to not notice Lieutenant Kirsch and the queen's manservant, William, watching from a noticeable distance. 

"So what is the weather like in Karnstein in the Spring?" Laura inquired when the subject of conversation shifted to the fact that she had never actually stepped foot into a land that she would soon co-rule.

Carmilla smiled, "Absolutely beautiful." She could have elaborated further, about how she could sit on her balcony for hours at night without catching a chill, or how because the castle was upwind from the mines, all she could smell with the breeze was freshly bloomed lilacs. But describing that would take Carmilla's thoughts away from how beautiful Laura looked in the mid-afternoon sun. 

"So if we were to live there, you don't think I would find it terribly dreadful?" Laura tucked her hair behind her ears with her free hand, giving Carmilla a clear view of the way her chocolate eyes now lit up at the mention of such things.

Carmilla bit her bottom lip and turned her head, as it seemed that having clear thoughts when Laura was looking at her in that way was nearly impossible. "I...don't know. It's quite different than here." 

The girls were silent with the exception of their footfalls on the stone walkway for a minute, before Laura said quietly, "Different isn't so bad." She moved her hand downward to grasp Carmilla's, interlocking their fingers. "So long as there's something familiar you can hang on to."

Carmilla felt as if her heart skipped a beat, and for a moment she thought that she had simply imagined what Laura had said. Or better yet, she was still in bed and all of this had been a very good dream. Then in a flash, Laura had moved in front of Carmilla, her gaze appearing to have landed slightly below her fiancée's eyes. She then paused and seemed to contemplate her next move, wondering if this was all okay. 

"Carm, I-" The sentence was cut off by Carmilla's walls crashing down as she took no time in leaning in and placing her lips gently on Laura's.

Carmilla knew for sure then that even the sweetest of dreams couldn't compare to this, and it had to be real. The sensation was nothing short of electric when Carmilla's mouth melded with Laura's as if they were two connecting pieces of a puzzle, and a part of Carmilla's brain scolded her profusely when she forced herself to break the kiss and look into Laura's eyes. At first, she feared that she had misinterpreted things and had completely messed up. After all, it had felt as if Laura wasn't kissing her back, and Laura was now looking at her with a totally indecipherable, wide-eyed expression.

But then Laura's dominant hand had moved to the back of Carmilla's head, and she was pulling her in for another kiss, and Carmilla felt herself smiling into it. They only broke apart when they remembered that they required air.

"I think I could get used to this." Laura whispered into Carmilla's ear.

"I believe I could, too." Carmilla reached down to take Laura's hand in hers, bringing it up to gently place her lips on it. "Prinzessin meines Herzens."

Laura smiled slyly. "Are you desperate to wipe your mouth this time?"

* * *

It wasn't until later, once she had returned to her room following an entirely pleasant dinner with Laura, that Carmilla was abruptly returned to Earth. 

"Hello, Mother." She greeted the queen, who seemed entirely out of place sitting in Carmilla's sanctuary. 

The ever-youthful woman smiled. "Hello, Sweetheart." 

Carmilla could feel every muscle in her body tense. As she grew older, Carmilla had begun to interact with her mother less and less. Her nannies had said it was because the queen was having to deal with important matters for the kingdom. "What are you here for, Mother?" She cut to the chase, and the queen smiled.

"Is that a way to speak to your mother? What if I only wished to talk?" The queen rose from Carmilla's favorite reading chair and approached her daughter slowly; the heels of her shoes loudly clicking on the floor with each step.

"If that is indeed the case, then I will apologize." Carmilla said with a level of boldness that would have ordinarily caused her mother to strike her. Instead, the queen smiled.

"You know me so well, Liebling." The attitude and the use of common tongue peaked Carmilla's interest. The latter came off as being especially dirty, considering the events of that afternoon.

"Then you will tell me why you're here?" The princess asked, and flinched when her mother reached out to stroke her hair.

"William told me about your little rendezvous in the garden." The queen spoke in a hushed voice. "Wouldn't you agree that that is not exactly proper behavior for someone of your status?"

Carmilla must have had adrenaline left in her veins from the afternoon's events. "Better with her than with some scullery maid. Wouldn't you agree?"

And there was the long-anticipated slap. Carmilla raised a hand to her stinging cheek.

"You know how it hurts me to do that." The queen sighed.

"Somehow, I doubt it." Carmilla said through her clenched teeth. She briefly considered hitting back if her mother were to quip about articulation. The queen was instead silent, opting to give Carmilla a glare that could burn through metal.

"Though I suppose I see your point of view." The queen smiled. "It should be far easier for you to marry someone you care for- even if it's only for the physical aspects."

"Well, technically, I actually don't-" Carmilla's objections to her mother's comment were cut short.

"Especially considering how soon you shall be married to her." The queen finished, and Carmilla raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I suppose next year is quite soon in the scheme of things." Part of her mother's body language when talking about her upcoming wedding confused Carmilla.

"About that." The queen seemed all too happy to break this news. "King Frederick and I have decided that it would be best for the wedding to occur this summer instead of next, what with you being so terribly busy next year after your coronation. A wedding on top of everything would be too much."

To Carmilla's surprise, this revelation didn't exactly floor her. She'd spent twenty years being her mother's bargaining chip for better diplomacy, and having her wedding moved up a year wasn't so bad when she thought of the punishment she would receive if she refused. "So I assume that you've already been preparing arrangements for the wedding?" The words came easily.

"Of course not; You haven't proposed, yet." The queen laughed when Carmilla tilted her head to the side.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Mother, but have Laura and I not been engaged since our first summer here?" Carmilla felt as if this new information was harder to comprehend than her expedited wedding.

"Of course not, Carmilla." The queen smirked. "That would imply that you had no say in who you are to marry. We aren't barbarians, you know!" Even the often-oblivious King Frederick would have detected the cruel sarcasm in Carmilla's mother's voice. "Of course, should you refuse to go through with the wedding, I could always spread the rumors of my poor, ill-minded daughter throughout the land. You would never be queen."

"Devastating. Truly." Carmilla muttered, and her mother's hand came across her face again. The queen then grabbed her daughter's wrists, holding her in place.

"You, my utter disappointment of an heir-" The queen twisted one of Carmilla's arms, but the princess wouldn't give her the satisfaction of even a look of discomfort. "-are going to marry the absolutely fair match that I have found for you, or there will be consequences that you couldn't imagine."

"How beautifully cryptic." Carmilla hissed, and her mother twisted harder.

"We wouldn't like you to have a clumsy accident that results in you getting a broken arm, would we?" The queen's voice was even and the threat could have been her talking about the weather.

"Not when I have a wedding to prepare for." Carmilla answered in defeat, having a harder time hiding the pain she was feeling. Her mother smiled at this and released her arm.

"You've always been a wise girl." The queen headed for the door. 

* * *

Three days passed, and Carmilla couldn't set her mind on anything other than her conversation with her mother. Had it not taken the turn it did, perhaps she wouldn't have such a problem with marrying Laura. In fact, she would have been all too happy to do so. But the way her mother was so set on the marriage was unsettling.

Either way, Carmilla knew she had no choice, and decided that proposing on the beach would do just fine. She even had memorized a short speech. But now, with the sand sinking beneath their boots, the moment fast-approaching, and Laura looking at her like a lovesick doe, Carmilla found herself stumbling.

"Um...Laura?" She said to her companion, who nodded to tell her to go on. "You are aware that we were originally intended to marry next year, correct."

Laura seemed confused, but nodded. "Of course. How could I forget?"

"Right." Carmilla took a few deep breaths. "Well, I've been thinking recently, and with my coronation in under a year, perhaps it would be best if we get it over with sooner?"

Laura stared at her blankly for a moment. "Get it over with?" Had she been in a clearer place of mind, Carmilla would have detected how very unimpressed Laura was with her at this moment.

"Will you marry me? This summer?" Carmilla said quickly, and produced from her pocket a small box containing a ring that had belonged to her father's family for many generations- something that had been conveniently placed on her dresser that morning. The ruby and black diamond setting dazzled in the light, and Carmilla assumed that the look on Laura's face was just her taken aback.

"I-"

"Laura, I know that this is really sudden, but I would like to think-" Carmilla struggled to think of  parts of her speech. "That the two of us make good company, and you've grown to be so beautiful, and-"

"I've grown to be beautiful?" Laura interrupted.

"Yes, very, but-" Carmilla felt as if both of her feet were in her mouth.

"So would you feel differently about our marriage of convenience if I hadn't "grown beautiful?"" Laura's face was a shade of red, and Carmilla noticed the wet state of her eyes, which for Laura indicated extreme anger, sadness, or perhaps a mixture of both. Either way, Carmilla knew she had royally messed up. "Do you even want to marry me at all, or were the recent nice gestures just you doing what you felt obligated to do?" 

Carmilla's eyes bulged. "Of course not!" 

"Right. Because you're fond of me. How could I forget?" Laura's words stung, but Carmilla couldn't bring herself to correct her. "Well, this may come as a bit of a shock, Carmilla, but I want more than that."

"What more do you want from me?"

The words left Carmilla's mouth before she could fully think of how badly they would hurt Laura, whose face took on a look of defeat, and that was the end. Upon their silent return to the castle, Carmilla returned to her room to pack her things while William and Kirsch went to their respective rulers to explain the situation they'd seen and heard from a distance.

By the time night fell, the carriage back to Karnstein was loaded up, and Carmilla and her mother departed without seeing Laura again to say goodbye. Though Carmilla swore she could see her silhouette in her bedroom window. The carriage was silent for over an hour, until it had entered the great Silas forest.

"Well, I should have known that no matter how perfectly I could prepare things, you would find a way to ruin it all." The queen snapped.

Carmilla's voice was quiet and defeated. "I'm sorry, Mother. I tried."

The queen glared. "No, Carmilla. I don't think you did." Her daughter could have sworn that her mother's hands were practically vibrating.

A split second after thinking this, a jolt of pain shot down Carmilla's spine. The unexpectedness of it caused her to cry out.

The queen sighed. "I truly didn't want it to come to this." She stood and crossed the carriage to sit next to her daughter, who screamed again when it felt like her bones were literally shifting their positions. "Now, darling, things are going to change for a while." Carmilla fell to the carriage floor, writhing in excruciating pain that almost kept her from comprehending a word her mother was saying. She felt tears streaming down her cheeks when her arms and legs bent to angles no human's should.

"Help." Carmilla cried weakly, trying and failing to reach out to her mother, and witnessing her fingernails grow rapidly into claws.

"I tried to take over both kingdoms completely legitimately. I spent nearly twenty-five years on that plan, but in a day, you managed to ruin it." The queen's massive revelation was shocking, but admittedly second on Carmilla's mind, due to the fact that she was now growing, ripping out of her dress.

"Why?" Carmilla choked just before her mother called to William to stop the carriage.

"Banished to that wasteland for two hundred years." The queen quite literally giggled. "How great to get my revenge when nobody even remembers me."

Carmilla thought that she must be hearing things. The pain was making her delirious and her mother hadn't just admitted to be some centuries-old enemy of Karnstein and Hollis. That would also explain why she now appeared to be growing hair _everywhere._

The queen moved to lean over her changing daughter and open the carriage doors. "But until I can figure out a way to fix this mess you've made, I believe it's best if you stay right here." Carmilla felt an invisible force shove her out of the carriage and to the ground. "If you're a good girl and don't leave the forest, then every night at midnight, you will return to your human self until sunrise."

"Mo-" Carmilla's final cry for help shifted into an animalistic shriek, and that's when the pain overcame her and she lost consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, the title finally applies! And yes, in true fairytale villain fashion, the queen laments her evil plans. Kind of. No use in punishing your kid without telling them why, I guess.


	7. One Midnight Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little Laura chapter!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And yes, the chapter title comes from Into the Woods, which I saw a couple days ago.

_Carmilla was gone. She would never marry Carmilla. She would marry someone else. Carmilla didn't love her anyway._

This was the mantra Laura found herself repeating in her head as she laid in her bed, waiting for sleep to finally take her. She wasn't sure how much time had already passed like this, but she figured that it had to work eventually. It had to work to get the feeling out of her head that she'd made a terrible mistake in sending Carmilla away.

When she was sure that another fifteen minutes had passed, without sleep and without confidence in her decision, Laura sat up with a noise of frustration. "Driving me mad even when she's gone." She murmured to herself and threw the covers to the side, getting up to cross the cold stone floor to her dressing room.

Finding a more suitable outfit for her short journey than her night dress, Laura changed in record time and crept to her door, opening it slowly to avoid a creak. The last thing she needed was a guard spotting her and reporting her actions to her father. Once out of her room, Laura moved through the shadows of the dimly-lit corridors, hugging walls as she crept past chattering or drowsy nightguards. The trip across the castle took so much time that even if Laura were to have sudden doubts about seeking this sort of advice, she would feel disappointed in herself if she were to back out.

Laura crept through the open door of the common room of the castle guards, being especially careful not to wake the few people napping on sofas, then dashed to the stairs, climbing to the top of the tower to the private quarters of the captain.

"Danny." Laura whispered after giving the door three light knocks. When there wasn't an answer, the princess slowly opened the unlocked door, slipped through, and closed it behind her. "Danny!" She whispered again as she approached the captain's bed, where she was sleeping quite soundly. Laura rolled her eyes. "Assassin in the castle!"

The speed at which Danny was awake and sitting up in her bed was as impressive to Laura as it was humorous. "Which corridor?! Have Kirsch assemble some troops to scour the castle!" Danny slurred orders without getting a clear view of Laura.

"Danny, there's no assassin." Laura clarified finally and stepped into the moonlight streaming in from the window.

To her surprise, Danny merely sighed. "Are you here to climb into bed with me?" She asked groggily.

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Um...no? Where would you get an idea like that?"

Danny shrugged. "I've had many dreams start with a similar premise. I had to be sure that this isn't one of them." She leaned over to light the lamp on her bedside table.

In the orange glow of the room, the smirk on Laura's face was obvious. "I'm oddly flattered." Laura admitted, and tentatively moved to take a seat on the edge of Danny's bed.

The captain bit her lip. "Good, because that inappropriate comment towards you was nearly as improper as you being in here at this ungodly hour." Danny scolded herself. "Though I'm curious about your true intentions, so I won't escort you back to your room just yet."

Laura rolled her eyes. "Always the rebel." She said sarcastically.

Danny shrugged. "I suppose we've done worse."

"That we have." Laura distracted herself by running her hand over the scratchy blanket on Danny's bed. "That all feels like a lifetime ago." She sighed.

"To you, perhaps." Danny grumbled. "To me, it feels like a year." Laura nodded in understanding. "But of course, that's not what you came here to talk about."

"No, it's not." Laura admitted without a fight. "I came here because I'm angry with myself, and I feel like you of all people will tell me that I made the right decision in sending Carmilla away."

"Oh dear." Danny groaned, and got out of bed to pace back and forth. A nervous habit Laura knew well.

"I need you to reassure me that-" Laura started, only to be interrupted by Danny.

"That Carmilla is a pompous, infuriating, oftentimes downright rude person?" The captain offered.

Laura smiled broadly. "Exactly! Thank you, Danny."

The redhead rolled her eyes. "And that up until today, she'd been absolutely, obviously in love with you?"

Laura's face fell. "Not so obviously." She turned away in fear that she would start crying at any moment. "She only wanted to marry me because she felt obligated to. She couldn't even tell me that she wanted to marry me because she loved me!" A tear rolled down her cheek.

"Do you love her?" Danny asked bluntly, and Laura was silent for a moment.

"Of course I love her. If I didn't, I don't think it would hurt this much." The tears were flowing freely, now, and Laura buried her face in her hands. A few seconds later, the mattress sank beside her and Danny's arm wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her in close. "I love that pompous, infuriating, rude girl so much, and she doesn't love me."

Danny sighed. "Laura, there is not a doubt in my mind that you're wrong."

The princess laughed out loud. "Danny, have you ever had someone ask you to marry you and use terminology such us, 'get it over with'?" Laura looked up at the captain with red eyes.

Danny bit her lip. "Well, admittedly, I have never been on the path of a marriage proposal, what with being preoccupied with my career and being hopelessly devoted to an entirely taken woman." Laura frowned. "But I agree, she probably could have worded things better."

"Danny, I honestly came to you because I figured that you would tell me that I should get over her and move on." Laura said dryly as she pushed Danny's arm away. "Because, you know, I'm sure my father will allow me to marry practically whoever I want, now." She looked pointedly into the captain's eyes.

Danny bit her lip. "And as happy as that would make me, truly," She placed her hand on top of Laura's. "I know, deep down, that I always and forever will be your second choice."

Without warning, Laura wrapped her arms around Danny's midsection. "You know, you don't always have to be so honorable." She murmured.

Danny laughed. "Oh, but Your Highness, I truly do. It's been ingrained into me." She kissed the top of Laura's head. "Now, when are you planning on departing for Karnstein so that I can gather a few escorts?"

Laura shook her head. "No, I'm not going to do that."

Danny pulled herself away. "And why not?"

"Because I'm still not entirely sure that my feelings for that stupid girl are mutual!" Laura unceremoniously wiped her tears on the sleeve of her shirt. "I mean, I know that she kissed me, but maybe that was just a perk of marrying me?"

Danny rolled her eyes. "Laura, you are more ridiculous than I had originally thought if you think that that girl isn't absolutely bonkers for you." Laura opened her mouth to object. "I know because I see the way she looks at you when you aren't looking. It's the way I used to look at you."

Laura put her face in her hands again. "I just really love her, Danny."

"I know." Danny put her hand on Laura's shoulder. "Which is why you need to go after her and tell her how you feel."

"Uggggh." Laura groaned, and stood from the bed, wiping her eyes once more. "If I were to leave tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn, would that be too soon for you to assemble your guards?"

Danny gave a melancholy smile and shook her head. "No, not at all."

"Good." Laura said, her mind made up. "Then I suppose I should get some sleep and-"

The princess never got to finish her sentence, for at that moment, the door of Danny's quarters burst open.

"Captain Lawrence!" Lieutenant Kirsch shouted, but paused briefly upon seeing the Princess. "Your Highness." He added, trying not to look scandalized. "The Queen of Karnstein has returned."

Laura's heart seemed to skip a beat. "And what of Princess Carmilla?" She demanded.

Kirsch looked down. "I shall escort you to the queen at once." He said without giving an answer, and turned back toward the door. He may have expected Laura to follow him, but instead she, followed by Danny, pushed past him  and raced down the stairs of the tower as fast as their legs could carry them. They didn't stop running until they had reached the grand foyer, finding the Queen and her manservant looking worse for wear.

Laura noticed that her father was already there, and the queen was crying.

"Lilita, what happened?" King Frederick asked the queen as gently as possible as he kneeled beside the chair that had been brought for her. Laura looked around for any sign of the not-present princess; Perhaps she had already been escorted to her room?

"Our- our carriage was attacked!" William answered for the Queen, who went into a fit of hysterical sobbing.

"Attacked? By whom?!" Laura's father pressed, and William's face looked grim.

"Not whom, Your Majesty. What." William corrected, and the Queen uncharacteristically reached for his hand for comfort. "It was some sort of cat-like beast! The color of tar."

The king's eyes bulged. "Like the one that attacked you all those years ago?" Frederick asked the queen, referencing the local legend of her first meeting with her husband.

Lilita nodded. "Exactly like it!"

Laura's head was pounding, and she wondered why nobody was acknowledging the obvious absence of the Queen's daughter. She  couldn't take the interrogation anymore.

"Where is Carmilla?!" Laura shouted, causing dead silence among the people gathered in the foyer.

"She-" William started quietly.

"The monster got her!" The queen cried. "It took my girl!" The revelation made Laura feel as if the world was crashing down around her. Like her heart had shattered to pieces in a matter of seconds. Feeling as if she was at the end of some sort of sick joke the universe had orchestrated.

But a part of her brain wouldn't accept the painful, likely truth of Carmilla's current state at all.

"You say the beast took her?" Laura asked, and the queen nodded.

"It attacked our carriage and dragged my poor daughter into the woods!" Lilita sobbed a few more times. "I fear that if it's the same monster as before, then she's probably-" The queen's crying prevented her from finishing what everyone knew she would say.

Without a second thought, Laura was dashing to the armory with Danny hot on her heels.

"What are you doing?" The guard asked when Laura began strapping on her armor.

"I'm going to find her, Danny." Laura announced, feeling like her intentions should have been obvious.

"Laura-" Danny started, the pity in her voice quite apparent.

"Don't you dare tell me that she's dead!" Laura snapped, and once the word left her mouth, she began accepting just how possible it was. She slowly put her sword into the holster on her side.

"Laura, it's just- it's dangerous in that forest. Even if Carmilla's alive, that animal is still out there. I insist that we wait until morning and I can send out a search party." Danny's rational thinking made sense to Laura, but that didn't make her like the idea anymore.

"Well, she could very well be dead by morning." Laura's voice was cold. "I'm going out there, whether you and my father like it or not."

Danny nodded after a moment. "Fine. But I insist on escorting you personally." She crossed the room to collect the spare armor she didn't keep in her private quarters.

"I depart in five minutes." Laura called over her shoulder as she  exited the armory and jogged back to the foyer. "I require my horse!" She called to one of the nightguards, who nodded and dashed off to the stables.

"Laura, what in the world are doing?" King Frederick asked with concern as he dashed to his daughter's side.

"I'm going to find Carmilla." Laura refused to be stopped, now but that didn't mean her father couldn't try. The king put his hand on his daughter's arm.

"I won't have you getting yourself killed, too!" He said firmly, but Laura yanked herself away.

"A leader does not just leave someone behind." She said with conviction. "Surely, you won't let your fears of losing me make you forget that."

Without waiting for further response, Laura dashed out the castle's front doors, running toward the stables where her white filly was being saddled. "Have Captain Lawrence's horse prepared as well." She called to a stable boy after she'd hopped onto her horse's back with great ease for someone of her stature. "She shall arrive soon." Laura gripped her horse's reigns tightly. "On, Girl!" She kicked her spurs into her horse's side, and it dashed forward into the night with a neigh.

* * *

Laura arrived at the edge of the Silas forest in a time nearly impossible for a carriage, followed shortly by Danny on her black battle stallion.

"Have you ever travelled through here?" Danny asked Laura when they began galloping side by side down the beaten path.

Laura looked around at the forest within the confines of the light from the lantern that Danny had thankfully thought to bring. The ancient trees allowed for little natural light to penetrate the forest, and Laura felt that the beast could ambush them without them even knowing until it was just beside them. "Never." She said finally  and picked up the pace, but was careful to stay within the circle of light.

"They couldn't have gotten far in their carriage. I think we should find where they were attacked, and-"

Laura halted her horse. "Danny, stop." She ordered, and dismounted upon seeing something just to the side of the path. Something she desperately hoped was not what she thought it was.

"Is that-?" Danny asked when Laura approached what appeared to be the tattered remains of the red dress she'd last seen Carmilla in.

"It's hers." Laura said, picking up the shreds of fabric and feeling the tears well up in her eyes.

Danny crouched down on the ground and felt around where the dress had been. "There's no blood." She concluded.

"So, so the thing tore her dress off and she's somewhere without it?" The idea sounded ridiculous even to Laura, but she could come to no other conclusion.

"Or," Danny sighed. "It dragged her off somewhere."

Laura winced and clutched the cloth tightly to her chest. "CARMILLA!" She shouted unexpectedly, causing Danny to jump slightly. "CARMILLA, ARE YOU OUT HERE?!" Laura took a few steps off of the path, only for Danny to grab her arm.

"Laura, you can't go out there with that thing around. Especially now that it probably knows where we are." Danny gently tugged Laura back into the direction of the horses. "I promise, we will come back as soon as the sun comes up and we'll look for her and-"

Laura crushed herself into Danny, sobbing uncontrollably into the captain's chest. "She can't really be gone can she?" Laura whispered.

"I don't know." Danny replied truthfully, and helped Laura back onto her horse.

But quite far away, in the deep, deep forest, at the edge of a stream, a monstrous black cat had turned back into a very unconscious, very naked princess.


	8. Instincts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did somebody say Catmilla?

Carmilla's room felt particularly cold that morning. She wondered if she had forgotten to close her window the night before, but she didn't want to open her eyes- the servants must have opened her curtains before schedule. Carmilla's muscles also ached considerably, but that probably had to do with the constant activities Laura had her doing. 

The thought of her made Carmilla remember the vivid dream she'd had the night before. A ridiculous thing about Laura sending her away and her mother being some evil sorceress that was looking to take over the two kingdoms. All of it ended in an absurd conclusion where she'd been turned into some kind of beast. After that, Carmilla figured she must have slipped into the deep, dreamless sleep that one of her old nursemaids had said was so beneficial for her complexion.

The princess yawned and stretched her arms above her head, noticing that for some reason, her bed was oddly uncomfortable. And she seemed to have kicked off her blankets. Made difficult with the bright light, Carmilla attempted to open her eyes, only to close them again just after.  
How odd that it appeared she'd been looking up at trees and sky rather than the ceiling of her bedroom in Laura's castle.

Carmilla slowly opened them again, attempting to gasp when she did indeed see trees and sky, but for some reason, her body wouldn't respond to the reflex. She tried to scream, and the sound that came out was close, but definitely not human. She rolled off of her back and onto, to her horror, four black paws.

Carmilla's eyes darted around at her surroundings; she was in a small clearing that she didn't remember from the dream- or, she supposed, the night before. Though she figured that her mother, capable of producing some sort of shape-shifting curse, was likely able to transport her to somewhere that wasn't the side of the main path between Hollis and Karnstein. Listening carefully to the relatively silent forest, she made out the sound of running water, which she followed to a small stream just outside of the clearing.

Waking up as a monster was one thing, but seeing an enormous black cat's reflection in the place of her own sent Carmilla stumbling backwards to get it out of her sight. All of it was too much, and she suspected that she would be crying if she had the physical capacity to do so. Twenty years of living in two separate palaces hadn't exactly provided her with a strong constitution, after all. And she knew that she hadn't always been kind to some of her servants, but did that behavior condone this level of punishment from the gods? 

Carmilla produced the possible equivalent of a groan and looked up at the sky, wondering if the deities she didn't exactly believe in were having a good laugh at her expense.

"I sincerely hope that you are all thoroughly entertained!" She tried shouting to the heavens, but to her disgust, she was only capable of a shriek-like growl. The cherry on top of the situation, though was that it was all her own mother's doing. Carmilla's mother hadn't always been the best person, but the princess would have never guessed that she was a centuries-old witch of some sort. One capable of turning her own daughter into an enormous black cat, at that.

On that note, Carmilla tentatively put her right front paw out in front of her, noticing that it did indeed match that of one of the cats used to keep mice down in the kitchen, just scaled up considerably. She also tested speaking again.

"Hello." She tried to say, hearing only a meow like that of a domestic cat. It likely would have been amusing if not for the horrifying circumstances. She tried again, this time trying to shout, "How dare you?!" Which came out as a growl. 

It appeared that intention was key.

Carmilla sighed and plopped down in the grass. She had no idea what her next move was. The events of the previous night were becoming clearer and clearer, and she now remembered one important tidbit of information. 

_"If you're a good girl and don't leave the forest, then every night at midnight, you will return to your human self until sunrise."_

The princess looked up at the sky, and judging by the position of the sun, it was the late morning. Had she really changed into a human and then back into a giant cat in the night without so much as waking up? It seemed unlikely, but then again, the whole situation was pretty unlikely. In any case, she wondered if her mother meant that the curse was designed to let her change back only if she were in the forest, or if her mother had some way of knowing when and if she left the parameter, at which case she would amend the curse.  Why couldn't her mother have been more specific?

Not to mention that Laura likely still despised her, leaving Carmilla feeling totally and utterly alone, but feeling like she deserved it all. She couldn't even say the most three simple words a person could tell someone, so why would Laura worry about her now?

The whole situation was entirely too complicated and traumatizing. Carmilla feared that even if the spell was broken in a timely manner, the experience of being a creature would plague her thoughts for years to come.

"If I wasn't unfit to be queen _before_..." Carmilla pondered aloud in a meowing babble.

Yes, this would certainly make her very disturbed.

* * *

 

A short while later, Carmilla must have slipped into sleep again, because when she awoke, the light would indicate it was the evening.

"Your Highness, I think it's best we turn back. " The voice of a man that sounded like Laura's idiotic guard, Kirsch carried to Carmilla's ears from a slight distance. This brought the princess onto her feet in an instant.

"While I hate to admit it, the lieutenant is unfortunately right."Captain Lawrence's distinctive voice chimed in. "The sun should be setting soon and I wouldn't be caught dead in this forest at night, even if there wasn't a monster on the loose."

It took Carmilla a good second to realize that she was in fact the monster Danny was referring to. But why? Wouldn't her mother want to keep her unorthodox punishment a secret?

"We are not going back until we find Princess Carmilla." The voice of Laura finally insisted, and Carmilla could have swooned. Never before had she been more happy to hear the obnoxious girl. She righted herself as she prepared for their arrival.

"Laura, I don't know if-" Danny started, but stopped abruptly. Carmilla suspected that the princess had silenced her.

"We _will_ find her, _Captain_." Laura insisted, and knowing the history between her and the giant, Carmilla couldn't help but find the formality a tad amusing. And though she still didn't understand the sudden change of heart,  Carmilla wondered if Laura would be winning to stay in the forest until midnight.

"Princess, I know you love her, but-" Kirsch was also stopped.

"We haven't found a single piece of evidence that would suggest that Carmilla is dead without a doubt." Laura reminded the guard. "Wouldn't you think that being mauled to death would create a bit of a bloody mess?" Carmilla's heart pounded noticeably in her chest when she realized that she was in fact in grave danger. It appeared that her mother hadn't told them the whole story, after all.

Realizing the issue that would arise, should the group arrive in the clearing to find only her in her new form, Carmilla looked around before scrambling to a tree. Climbing couldn't be that hard, could it? Granted, she'd never climbed a tree in her life, even when she had opposable thumbs, but the claws had to be good for something, right? She backed up a few steps before giving herself a running leap at the tree, and before she knew it, she was pulling herself up it with ease. To her horror, some sort of instinct seemed to kick in once she'd started. But she couldn't have instincts, could she? She wasn't _really_ an animal- or at least, that's what she had to tell herself.

Regardless, in record time, Carmilla found herself perched on a sturdy branch, easily the height of three large men off of the ground. And just in time, for a moment later, the search party led by Laura and two men being led by search hounds broke through the clearing.

"Have them search this area." Laura commanded, and the men unleashed the dogs, whose noses immediately went to the ground, sniffing furiously where Carmilla had just been lying. Danny and Kirsch joined the others a moment later.

"This is nearly a league beyond where you say your carriage was attacked." Danny called over her shoulder, and Carmilla barred her teeth when William came into sight. The weasel nodded.

"I have no doubt that the beast can cover more ground than this in no time at all." He assured her, and the captain left his side to join Laura, who was watching the dogs intently. Carmilla's eyes stayed on William however, as he slowly reached into his waistcoat, producing what appeared to be a flask.

The idea of him being a drinker didn't exactly surprise Carmilla at this point, but she narrowed her eyes when he opened the top and emptied the contents onto the ground, contents which appeared to be blood. He then dropped something small and shiny into the puddle.

"Your Highness, look over here!" William shouted once the flask was returned to his pocket. Laura looked up from the dogs and turned toward the queen's manservant.

"Have you found something, William?" She asked as she stepped toward him.

"No, he's planted something." Carmilla growled.

"I- I'm afraid that it's not good." William stammered, and Carmilla rolled her eyes.

Laura gasped when she saw the puddle. "No." She choked out, nearly inaudible, but Carmilla realized that she could still hear her despite the distance.

"Laura?" Danny asked the princess quietly.

Laura crouched down to pick up the shiny thing from the puddle. "It's that damned ring." She forced out before breaking down, not objecting when Danny comfortingly wrapped her arms around her.

"She...must have still had it on her person." The captain assumed, and Laura cried harder.

"Actually, it was in my jewelry case." Carmilla meowed, but moved farther out onto the branch, wishing desperately that she could tell Laura that she was alright.

"We shall return to the palace and inform Her Majesty the Queen of this horrid news." William said to Lieutenant Kirsch and the other guards while Danny led Laura to her own horse, helping her up before joining her. At this time, Carmilla got a clear view of Laura's face, and it gutted her to see that the princess looked totally and utterly broken.

Knowing that the hurt Laura was going through was the product of a gargantuan lie made Carmilla see red. In that moment, she didn't care if she ever turned back into a human; all that mattered was destroying the scoundrel who made Laura cry.

"Bastard!" Carmilla shrieked as she leapt off the branch, landing hard on the ground on all fours.  William's eyes widened as she bounded towards him, jumping at him with her claws out. "Let's see who's dead, now." She growled before swiping her paw across the manservant's once-handsome face, tearing four diagonal, gruesome lines into it. William screamed at the top of his lungs, drawing back the search party.

"It's here!" Carmilla heard Kirsch's voice through the pounding in her head. But frankly, all she cared about was killing her mother's favorite opening her mouth and going for William's throat.

Until something tore into her arm, and she tumbled sideways. Carmilla looked sideways to see Danny reloading a second arrow, but she tore away before she could be hit in a more lethal spot, running for the deep forest with all the speed her new form would allow, and not stopping until the voices of the search party were so far behind her that she couldn't hear them.

While catching her breath, Carmilla took the time to take the arrow jutting out of her arm into her teeth, and with one swift motion, she yanked it out. While she knew that this likely wasn't the safest course of action, keeping it in wouldn't do her much good. The princess clenched her jaw at the pain, but noticed that it seemed to not be bleeding very heavily. And with that taken care of, she now took the time to look at the dried human blood on her paw, almost horrified at how out of control she had been. True, William was a pathetic, mindless follower of her horrid mother, but was he worth losing her humanity for? Because eviscerating a man whose main job was bringing a woman her meals didn't seem exactly human.

Carmilla dropped to the ground, noticing the quickly-dimming light. How far had she ran? She knew now that her clearing had been a league from the road, but where was she now? Without a second thought, she bounded for another, taller tree, climbing much higher than the first time to a less steady branch where she could look out.

Based on the nearly-invisible Castle Hollis, Carmilla realized that she had to have been at least three leagues west and two leagues south from where her transformation had occurred. With a second look, she swore she saw smoke rising from a structure a short distance east from where she was.

"Smoke means fire, fire means people."  Carmilla said to herself, and looked at the position of the sun again. If she changed at midnight, she would be left human and vulnerable to the creatures of the forest, and even if she had faired alright while unconscious for one night, she wasn't about to try her luck. Perhaps even being near to the shack of a random woodsman would provide some sort of protection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to let you guys know that I have to go back to school in the morning, so I'll probably have less time to write, unfortunately. However, my inspiration comes in sporadic bursts, so even I don't know how updates are gonna be. Just wanted to give you guys a heads up, but just know that you are all the best! This story wouldn't be what it is without your encouragement.   
> And if you want to send me an ask to bug me about updating (it actually helps), just hit me up on my tumblr (addams-beineke).


	9. Grief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a shorter Laura chapter with a little backstory for Carmilla's dad.

Laura circled the three-dimensional map of the region that her father kept in his hardly-used war room. It featured a scaled model of the Silas Forest, which was nearly as daunting as the woods itself when it came down to representing an exact size; entirely massive, when you considered that it nearly closed the entire distance between Hollis and Karnstein. She stopped and placed a model knight roughly in the place where Carmilla's carriage was attacked. She then moved to the clearing where they'd encountered the monster first-hand. Shuddering, she placed a knight there as well.

"What are you doing?" Danny's voice behind her made Laura jump.

"I'm marking events on the tactical map." The Princess said when she turned around. Danny frowned.

"Today?" The captain asked with disbelief and a dash of pity.

Laura shrugged. "Why not?"

Danny stepped closer. "Maybe because we're leaving for Carmilla's funeral?" She suggested, and Laura turned back to the map.

"Exactly." The Princess pointed in the general vicinity of where the monster had to have gone. "How long do you suppose it would take to scour that area?" Laura asked.

"Laura-" Danny tried to object.

"How long?" Laura pressed again.

The captain didn't need to think hard. "Several days, even if we never dismounted our horses." She gave the answer she must have known Laura didn't want to hear. "Not to mention how fast and agile that thing is. We may never find it."

"Then it's a good thing I have so many resources at my disposal." Laura muttered, and the captain sighed.

"I'm sure if you put out a reward, a more trained hunter could-" Danny began to suggest.

"No reward." Laura said coldly. "If anyone is killing this beast, it will be me."

"Laura, you saw me shoot it and it was barely phased. How do you suppose you're going to kill it?" Danny reminded her.

Laura shrugged. "Does it matter? I just want it dead." She set the rest of her models down on the side of the map. "I plan on looking through King Joseph's archives when we arrive in Karnstein. If this beast has plagued the forest before, then it's likely that Carmilla's father kept something on the subject."

"And you suppose that the archives will give you insight on killing it?" Danny assumed, following the Princess as she headed in the direction of her bedroom.

"I certainly hope so." Laura turned to Danny, her face losing the emotionless facade. "I just- I can't go on knowing that Carmilla's death, along with who knows how many others, will go unavenged." Laura bit her lip. "And I know it sounds barbaric, but I feel like it will give me some sense of closure if I perform the deed myself. Do you understand?"

Danny nodded reluctantly. "No matter how far humans advance, there will always be primal instincts within us. You want to kill the thing that killed the person you had decided to spend your life with. It's simply how we work."

The corners of Laura's mouth crept up ever so slightly for the first time in days. "Then you will assist me in my search?"

Danny rolled her eyes. "Only to ensure that you don't get yourself killed." Without warning, Laura pulled her guard into a crushing hug.

"Thank you." The Princess whispered.

"I made a captain's vow to protect you to the ends of the world." Danny muttered. "Even when you let your heart think for your brain." She gently urged Laura to release her, and the Princess complied.

"You don't understand how much I appreciate this." Laura said sincerely, and jogged the rest of the way to her room to finish packing.

* * *

A week later, Carmilla's funeral had concluded, and an empty coffin was lowered into a grave next to her father's. The funeral had been performed in the great hall of the castle, which Laura tried not to take in too much. She tried to dispel the thought of being in the place where she and Carmilla would have spent at least the early years of their marriage together. Meanwhile, the citizens of Karnstein mourned the loss of the last born heir of the royal family line, and dreaded the idea of the ruthless Queen Regent Lilita taking the throne permanently. And while she grieved the loss of her love, Princess Laura couldn't help but feel the pain of the neighboring peasants. From what Carmilla had told her about the Queen's policies, Laura knew that they were in for hardships indeed.

But going to the library had been particularly difficult, as Laura could only think of how Carmilla loved to read, and how that seemingly never ending room was probably her favorite place in the whole world. The trip was necessary, however, as Laura managed to find a journal written by Carmilla's father, one which documented the attack on Queen Lilita all those years ago. In truth, it didn't contain many details, as King Joseph had never actually witnessed the beast. But his journal did contain the Queen's account after she had regained her bearings.

_My guest has finally recovered enough from her trauma to tell of the attack. She claims that it was the work of a beast like no other. While it may somewhat resemble a black household cat, it is nothing but vicious. She claims that it managed to tip her carriage and grievously maul her driver- the body of whom has yet to be recovered. I have since gone to the location of the attack, but have come across no signs of the creature and fear that the trail may be lost. Unfortunately, I believe that I may have to abandon the search for it, as the most important thing to me is personally seeing to it that Dear Lilita receives the best care in this horrid time._

_I must confess that I find myself oddly drawn to her in a way that I have never experienced before. It's as if any time I try to put my mind to another task, it is always drawn back to Lilita. I wonder if perhaps it would be too forward to begin courting her when she is well? She has expressed that she has no spouse or children and I feel that commoner or not, she would be a most excellent queen. The concern of my advisors would certainly be assuaged if I were to marry (even I had previously thought that I no interest in the likes of women- or men, for that matter). But I suppose an heir would be nice, should we be granted one. It is not out of the realm of possibility to think that perhaps the reason I am the sole survivor of the royal line plagues me as well._

_King Joseph III of Karnstein_

The entry told Laura that at the very least, her beast could be the same one. Though she figured it would have to be ancient if it was, and the thing she had encountered was exceedingly sprightly. And Laura found it intriguing that the Queen, despite going through an ordeal almost identical to one that had debilitated her for weeks, previously, was now quite functional. But she didn't have much of a chance to fully take in the Queen's behavior before it was time to return to Hollis.

"Farewell, Your Majesty." Laura had said cordially as possible as she and her father prepared to begin their journey home. Despite a monster-free trip on the way there, a dozen Hollis guards were stationed on horses to escort the carriage back through the forest. As an extra measure, the captain of the guard herself would ride in the carriage.

"Don't be a stranger, Dear." Queen Lilita gave Laura a sad smile and placed a hand on her shoulder. An out of place gesture for the cold woman. "Just because my Carmilla is gone doesn't mean that we won't still be neighbors."

Laura nodded. "Of course." She bit her lip and turned toward her carriage, glancing over to catch the Queen squeezing King Frederick's hand before she climbed into the carriage.

"Have you said your goodbyes?" Danny asked from where she had already taken her seat.

"Yes." Laura sat next to the guard, a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. "Danny?" She asked when she couldn't take it any longer.

"Hmm?" The guard replied.

Laura wrung her hands in her lap, trying to find the words. "Do you think something is strange about the Queen?" 

Danny frowned. "Truthfully, I'm not very well-acquainted with the ruler of Karnstein. But I think the grieving process affects people more than you think."

Laura scoffed. "You don't say?"

Danny sighed and put her arm around  the Princess. "Yes." She reiterated. "And if you really feel like leading a hunt on a murderous cat will help you go through your own grieving process, then I have no choice but to assist you."

"Yes, you've already told me that you will help." Laura reminded her.

Danny nodded in acknowledgment. "It's just that," The captain took a moment to contemplate her choice of words. "Killing the monster won't bring her back."

Laura nodded. "I know. But you understand that if an enormous creature is killing travelers on the only road between Hollis and Karnstein, it's my duty as future ruler to ensure that the threat is taken care of."

Danny bit her lip. "Yes, I suppose you're right." 

At that time, the carriage door opened again and King Frederick climbed inside, sitting across from Laura and Danny. "Our driver says that it looks like rain." He said with dismay.

"Rain won't delay us going home, will it?" Laura asked, anxious to get back to her own resources to begin the hunt.

The king shook his head just before the carriage lurched forward. "It just may slow us down a bit."

Frederick crossed his hands in his lap and sighed, looking into Laura's eyes. "And how are you faring?" He asked his daughter, who shrugged.

"I suppose that the best way to go about hardships is to take them one day at a time." Laura said, reciting the words of one of Carmilla's chambermaids that had attended to her.

The king nodded. "Yes, that's certainly true." He gave Laura a small smile. "But know that even kings and queens are allowed to be weak when it comes to matters of the heart."

Laura couldn't help but silently disagree.

* * *

Hours later, the bumping of the carriage actually managed to lull the carriage's occupants to sleep. The trip through the forest took well over a day, but no innkeeper would dare open up shop where there was rumored to be ancient beasts, on top of snakes, bats, and rodents the size of household dogs. This left them to travel through the night.

The noise of the rain pattering against the carriage roof did succeed in delaying sleep, but only for a short while, until it was only Laura still awake, using Danny's shoulder as a pillow. Albeit, a hard and uncomfortable one. But an hour after everyone else, a light, dreamless sleep managed to capture the Princess, dragging her down deeper, into dreamland. Laura's descent was stopped only when the carriage went over a bump in the road, jostling her back into consciousness with a gasp.

The Princess' eyes darted around the carriage, and she saw that her father and guard were still fast asleep. King Frederick was snoring so loudly that Laura thought it a miracle that she'd only just awoken, and a stream of drool was coming from the side of Danny's open mouth. Laura breathed in and out slowly, trying to relax herself back to sleep, but the carriage seemed unbelievably loud. She sighed and leaned forward, thinking nothing better to do than to look out the window. 

As it was what she assumed to be the early hours of the morning, Laura was somewhat annoyed to find that it was so dark that she could hardly even see the trees just a short distance away. The visibility wasn't helped by the pouring rain, either. Laura was just about to lean back into her seat when a bolt of lightning briefly lit up the forest.

The sight she took in was enough to make Laura's blood run cold. Because she could have sworn that watching the carriage from the side of the road was Carmilla, soaked to the bone in a plain white nightgown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for that cliffhanger, but the next chapter is one of my absolute favorites (I've got the whole thing planned out, so hopefully it won't take too long to write).  
> And for those who are wondering, yeah, Carmilla's dad was absolutely asexual. Take from that what you will.


	10. Captured

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Carmilla meets her woodland sidekicks.

The carriage stopped abruptly, following a shout from Laura, and Carmilla knew that she'd been seen. She dashed behind one of the trees as quickly as her human feet could carry her. This was exactly why she had debated doing this. Every time she saw Laura, bad things happened.

"Laura, what in the world are you doing?!" King Frederick called after his daughter as she jumped out of the carriage and into the mud.

"I saw her! She was out here!" Laura shouted over the rain as she trudged toward where Carmilla had been standing. "Carmilla, where did you go?!" Laura called out into the forest, and it took all that Carmilla had not to jump out of the shadows and run to her.

"Laura!" The aging King took more time to get out of the carriage, but he moved quickly to his daughter, wrapping his arms around her. "Carmilla isn't here." He told her. "She's gone."

"She's not gone! I just saw her!" Laura shouted, fighting to break out of her father's hold. Every fiber of Carmilla's being was filled with guilt when the king held his daughter closer with a fearful look on his face.

"Darling, you must have imagined it. It's late and your mind is playing tricks on you." The King seemed to be trying to convince himself of this more than his daughter, who he likely feared was being driven mad with grief. He looked back at Danny, who crouched in the carriage doorway, looking unsure of what to do.

"I know what I saw! It was not imaginary!" Laura fought, but her father continued to hold her tight, causing Carmilla to clench her hands at her side until her knuckles turned white.

"Laura, Laura, Laura!" Danny finally jumped out of the carriage and the King released his daughter into the guard's arms. "It's alright." She soothed Laura, who'd began to cry into the guard's jacket.

Carmilla rolled her eyes. "Opportunist." She grumbled to herself.

"I know you miss her, but if she truly is here, why hasn't she revealed herself once more?" Danny's arguably sound logic seemed to get through to Laura better than her father's bluntness.

_I would if I didn't fear the inevitable wrath of my mother._ Carmilla thought, wondering if she should retreat and avoid the tail end of the beating her heart was receiving.

"We have to get you home, then we'll come back." Danny promised eventually, still holding the Princess close. "We'll look everywhere."

After much hesitation, Laura nodded. "We will return as soon as possible?" She asked.

Danny glanced over Laura's head at the King, who nodded once. "As soon as possible." The Captain assured.

Laura was silent a moment. "Perhaps I do need more sleep?" She suggested, and Danny released her slowly. "It just- it seemed so real."

Carmilla somewhat wished she could muster the courage to throw herself off a cliff. Perhaps it would be less painful than knowing she'd made Laura believe she was going mad.

The King placed a gentle hand on Laura's back. "Let's go home, Darling." He suggested, and the Princess nodded hesitantly. The party headed toward the carriage without another word, but Carmilla caught Laura giving a quick backward glance in her direction.

"I'm here, Prinzessin meines Herzens." Carmilla whispered as the carriage door closed, and she wasn't certain what was the rain and what were tears streaming down her face as she watched the carriage set off. The Princess of Karnstein remained in her position until it was of sight, at which time she scolded herself.

"Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Carmilla paced furiously back and forth through the wet brush. "Why did I get so close to the road?!" She found it rather cruel that Laura was the one who people would pity for losing her mind, while she was the one that had taken to talking to herself. But in her defense, she was her only company, aside from the owners of the cottage (who she had never actually seen in person). Regardless, she would have to figure out a way to fix this. She wouldn't have Laura being hailed as a lunatic because of her recklessness.

Carmilla looked up at the position of the moon. She'd be changing back in a few hours and the walk to the cottage would only take a few minutes, but she figured she may as well get a few hours of sleep. Obtaining food while in her other form disgusted her, but it was easier to catch fish and small animals when she had extra speed. Sighing, Carmilla set off for the cottage, where she could sleep in the woodshed.

The first few nights back as a human had taught Carmilla many things. Namely, the forest wasn't so scary when you were the scariest thing in it. Specifically, her mother must have given her some sort of shielding spell that made animals run in terror from her even when she was in human form. She worried she had given a poor turtle a heart attack when she'd gone to a stream for a drink, once.

She also learned that even if nobody was there to see her naked, it didn't necessarily mean that she was entirely comfortable with gallivanting about until the change took again. That was why she stole- or rather borrowed- the nightgown from the cottage's clothesline. It was proof that even after being stripped of everything she had, Carmilla could still hold onto her dignity. Unfortunately, she'd had less luck with finding shoes, so the soles of her feet were starting to be hardened by the frequent cuts they took. This ordeal really didn't make Carmilla feel like much of a princess anymore.

Carmilla found herself approaching the cottage's grounds. It had been built in a clearing much like the one she'd first awoken in, and the house and small woodshed sitting behind it both appeared to be new- likely built within a year or two before Carmilla's arrival. As for the owners, Carmilla admittedly knew very little. She knew that one was either a woman, or a person who simply preferred going to bed in silky nightgowns. The other had an affinity for waistcoats. Or perhaps they were the same person? Truthfully, Carmilla didn't care so long as she continued to have a place to sleep.

She crept across the lawn while watching the cabin's windows for movement, though there was probably not going to be any at that hour. Making it safely to the woodshed, Carmilla stripped herself of the nightgown, fearing that she would ruin it if she changed in her sleep. She spread the garment on the free space of the floor (whoever owned the cabin was clearly lazy if they hadn't already prepared enough firewood for winter), and laid down. It wasn't a comfortable bed, but it was better than being left exposed to hunters, knights, and her hell-bent ex-betrothed.

"Perhaps this will all have been a dream when I wake up." She told herself, a routine she'd continued for the past week, now. It had never worked, but what else did she have?

Sleep claimed her in record time, likely because the night had been exhausting in every sense of the word.  Had Carmilla given in to her selfish desire, she would have Laura for at least a moment, but at what cost? Carmilla didn't even know if her mother was capable of watching her at all times, but she had learned to not underestimate her.

The thoughts plagued the Princess' dreams, which were hazy scenarios in which her mother used Laura to torment her. The most vivid one started off as the memory of attacking Will. He was writhing on the ground beneath her, his eyes pleading for forgiveness for his betrayal, and then Carmilla slashed her claws across his face.

But when Carmilla pulled her paw away again, it was Laura.

Carmilla's eyes shot open after laying eyes on Dream Laura's mauled face. For once, she breathed a sigh of relief when it was clear that she was in the woodshed. She looked down at herself to confirm that the change had occurred, and felt the pain of her dream again when she saw her paws.

"Just a dream." Carmilla told herself, getting up onto all fours. She went to the shed door and pushed it open a crack, noting the amount of light. Late afternoon, she figured. Carmilla's stomach growled right on cue.

"What I wouldn't give for filet mignon." She said in a meow, and poked her head out the door, looking for any sign of the cabin's owners. When she didn't see or hear anyone, Carmilla slowly exited the shed, intending on running for the cover of the trees. But instead, her nose caught the scent of apples, cinnamon, and buttery crust. She looked toward the house, seeing that for the first time in over a week, there was a pie sitting on the windowsill. 

"Someone's regained their ability to trust." Carmilla laughed, remembering her first meal as the cabin owner's secret guest. Just as she reasoned she could take the nightgown off of the clothesline, the princess figured that technically, royalty was allowed to take from their subjects in times of distress, and she was certainly in distress. The pie was also more appetizing than the thought of consuming another raw squirrel.

Her mind made up, Carmilla crept across the grass, knowing that it was incredibly dangerous to get close to the house when it was still light out, but allowing her stomach to do all of the thinking. It was an instinct she had embraced with much difficulty. "I don't suppose they left ice cream as well?"  Carmilla joked to herself, just before she stepped on a pile of leaves next to the house.

In the blink of an eye, a trap sprung, and Carmilla found herself hanging from the roof of the cabin in a net made of thick rope.

Carmilla let out one of the screeches that she hated so much as she frantically tried to find a way out. The owners would find her and skin her for sure. The owners had been _waiting_ for her. She tried chewing on the rope, but it was no use. Even with her exceptionally sharp teeth, it would take hours to make a hole big enough to escape through. The Princess was so preoccupied that she failed to notice the sounds of the cabin's owner approaching until they spoke up.

"Um, Perry?" They called, and Carmilla's eyes darted below her to a person with fiery red hair cropped short, wearing a waistcoat and an expression of bewilderment. "We caught something."

"Was it a raccoon like I said?" A high-pitched voice called from inside the cabin.

The short-haired person shook their head, even though their companion couldn't see them. "No." They said eventually. "It's not a raccoon." There was a silence, until the cabin's door creaked.

"Then what is it that you've caught, LaFontaine?" The high-pitched voice asked before its curly-haired owner rounded the corner of the house. Upon seeing Carmilla, the woman silenced, but her eyes looked like they could have bulged out of her skull. The short-haired person- LaFontaine, as their companion had called them, ran to the woman's side, putting their hand on her back in the event that she may faint.

"I may have to refer to my books for this one, Perr." LaFontaine gulped.

* * *

 

Hours later, the sun had set, and while Carmilla may have feared for her life before, now was just annoyed.

"Perhaps it's an oversized bobcat? There are bobcats in this forest." Perry suggested to LaFontaine, who had seated themselves on the ground under Carmilla's net with an oil lamp and a text on wild animals.

"Its ears aren't the right shape." LaFontaine dismissed Perry's suggestion. "And bobcats aren't black."

Carmilla struggled against the rope once again, feeling where she had rubbed parts of her skin raw. "I am not an it!" She growled. "I am Carmilla Mircalla Millarca Josephine Wilhelmina, first of my name, nineteenth of my line, crowned princess and sole heir to the kingdom of Karnstein. And I will have your heads if you do not release me, peasants!"  Her declaration came out as a series of frantic growls.

"You don't suppose it's diseased, do you?" Perry asked LaFontaine. "It doesn't exactly seem...well in the head."

LaFontaine shrugged. "It's certainly possible that it's rabid." Perry gasped. "But I would like to identify this creature before we do anything drastic." They added, and went back to their book. Carmilla rolled her eyes and went back to chewing at the rope; she was almost through one.

"What if it escapes?" Perry asked, indicating Carmilla's current action. "I'm fairly certain that this creature could easily kill us both." LaFontaine shrugged again, and Perry threw her hands in the air. "I've married the most careless person alive!"

"It's part of my charm." LaFontaine teased, and Perry turned around with a huff, stomping back into the house. The researcher looked up from their book to Carmilla. "It appears that you have gotten me banned from the bedroom, tonight."

"I did nothing of the sort. Your wife just has more sense than you do." Carmilla growled back, and LaFontaine frowned.

"I swear, it seems as if you can understand me." They shook their head and went back to skimming the pages of the book while Carmilla sighed and tried to find a comfortable position in the net. A moment later, the cabin's owner gasped. "This is you!" They shouted to Carmilla, pointing at the illustration in their book. Carmilla leaned over to look. "You're a black panther, aren't you?" The researcher asked.

"For now." Carmilla went back to her resting position.

"But what are you doing in this region?" LaFontaine went back to their book, perplexed. "It says that you're from the northern lands."

"Like my mother." Carmilla concluded. Perhaps her mother had come across an animal like what she would turn her future daughter into during her exile. The thought was cut off, however, by the tell-tale tingling sensation of the change approaching. Carmilla had been so preoccupied with her current predicament that she'd nearly forgotten about it. She certainly hadn't been keeping track of time, it seemed.

"I'll be needing hair and blood samples from you." LaFontaine went on, not noticing that their captive was more tense than usual.

_This should be interesting._ Carmilla thought to herself as she felt her fur receding and her body shrinking back into its natural form. The cabin's owner, however, was too caught up in their book.

"Perhaps you were with some kind of travelling circus? Those usually have animals, don't they?" LaFontaine thought aloud. "As if you could tell-" They looked up from their book just in time to catch the tail-end of Carmilla's transformation. The princess roared at the last of the discomfort, which turned into a human cry midway through. The researcher's jaw went slack as the naked human stretched out her arms.

They both were dead silent, until Carmilla cleared her throat. "Hello." The princess greeted LaFontaine cautiously. "I'm sure you're eager for an explanation."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, we have gotten to LaFerry.


	11. The Princess and the Professor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have finally overcome a nasty case of writer's block!

"I must admit that it would be more comfortable to be out of this net." Carmilla sighed and grasped at the rope of the net. Internally, she was mortified to be naked and completely vulnerable in front of one of her former potential subjects, but she supposed that if she kept her composure, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad.

The cabin owner audibly gulped. "Well, you see, you were just a giant black panther." They brought themselves to their feet. "Why exactly should I trust that you won't turn back and kill both me and my wife?"

Carmilla rolled her eyes. "Because murdering relatively innocent people isn't exactly my cup of tea. And besides, I think I have about six hours before I can change back." This piece of information seemed to spike LaFontaine's interest, but they shook their head.

"You still haven't earned my trust."

Carmilla sighed deeply. "Well, you see, if I had any desire at all to kill you, don't you think I would have done that instead of trying to steal apple pies from your windowsill for the past week?"

LaFontaine frowned. "So you admit to being a thief?"

Carmilla shrugged. "I'll see to it that you're compensated once I'm permitted to leave the forest." She wondered after the fact if she should have given away that information, but she was more preoccupied with getting herself out of the net.

The researcher tilted their head to the side."You aren't allowed to leave the forest?"

"I'm not sure, actually. The details were a bit hazy and I don't want to end up stuck as a giant cat because of ignorance." Carmilla explained quickly, still somewhat wondering if her mother was watching. "Now, will you please let me down from here?"

LaFontaine crossed their arms. "So you haven't always been this way?"

"Of course not." Carmilla leaned back in the net and played with a strand of her extremely disheveled hair.

"Then do tell how this came to be." LaFontaine walked over to the rope holding Carmilla up. "And maybe I could let you down."

The princess smiled and wrung her hands. "Well, where do I begin?" She pondered a moment. "I was born on a stormy night, nearly twenty-one years ago. My parents were in a loveless marriage, but I was necessary for their status in the world." Carmilla took a deep breath. "Ever the precocious child, I always-"  
For the first time in her life, Carmilla was interrupted by a commoner.

"I was thinking something along the lines of the recent events which led up to you being turned into a werepanther?" LaFontaine suggested.

Carmilla was only mildly irritated by the fact that her sarcastic rant didn't seem to faze LaFontaine, and moderately irritated by the label bestowed upon her. "Well, technically, I'm not a werepanther because when used in the context of say, werewolf, were means man, and I am no man."

"My apologies." LaFontaine said at the newly-acquired knowledge. "You seem quite well-educated." They pointed out after a beat.

Carmilla rolled her eyes. "Yes, I was well-educated; my parents are nobility." LaFontaine nodded and gestured for Carmilla to go on. "I was supposed to marry someone of the same status, but things sort of fell apart. One thing led to another, and a sorceress cursed me until further notice."

After a moment's hesitation, LaFontaine lowered the net halfway to the ground. "If you're nobility from this region, then surely I've heard of you. What's your name?"

Carmilla smiled. "I'm afraid you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

LaFontaine shrugged. "Try me. Are you from Hollis or Karnstein? We're closer to Hollis from here, but the forest does connect the two. And then again, you could be from one of the outside neighboring kingdoms like-"

"Karnstein." Carmilla stopped the rant. "I hail from Karnstein."

The researcher nodded. "Okay, so who are you?" They were getting impatient.

 "Carmilla." The princess said, finally.

The declaration didn't immediately register with LaFontaine, who appeared to be wracking their brain for the names of the various countesses and duchesses in the region. But when realization hit them, the rope holding Carmilla up slipped from their hands, and the princess slammed down hard on the ground.

"Ow." She said once, and worked to untangle herself from the net.

"You're-" LaFontaine sounded out of breath.

Carmilla stood up out of the netting. "The Princess, yes."

LaFontaine struggled to find words as Carmilla stretched her limbs, stiff from the hours in the net. "Would-" They gestured to their house. "Would you like to come inside?"

Carmilla glanced down at her naked body. "Would you mind if I made a quick trip to your woodshed, first?"

* * *

While the cabin may have appeared to be fairly average from the outside, the inside was anything but. Carmilla sat on the sofa in her dirty nightgown, looking around at the numerous jars of pickling vegetables sitting on every surface that wasn't already occupied by some sort of scientific contraption.

"My wife likes to occupy herself with various culinary hobbies." LaFontaine explained when they noticed Carmilla looking. They set down a kettle. "Tea?"

"Yes, thank you." Carmilla accepted a cup and smiled at the heat it brought to her hands. It was interesting, how such things never used to affect her when she hardly ever left a warm castle.

"So," LaFontaine sipped their own cup to test its temperature before setting it back down. "I don't believe I ever formally introduced myself." They held out their right hand for Carmilla to shake, though seemed to half-regret it immediately afterward. "I'm Professor S. LaFontaine, specialist in biology, dabbler in medicine."

The revelation of their title surprised Carmilla, who had thought that LaFontaine looked to be around her age. Out of genuine respect, Carmilla tentatively shook their hand. "Princess Carmilla Mircalla Millarca Josephine Wilhelmina of Karnstein." She said for the second time, but the first time in human language.

It must have been due to the late hour, but without thinking, LaFontaine laughed. "Oh my, your mother must have truly hated you." 

The truth in the joke stung, and Carmilla bit her lip to hide this. "My father named me, actually." She said to cover up her feelings, even if it was actually the case. The king's death was common knowledge, so LaFontaine dropped the subject.

"So, you were cursed?" They got down to business. Carmilla sipped her tea and nodded. "By a sorceress?" The Princess nodded again. The Professor was prepared to ask more questions when the bedroom door swung open.

"LaFontaine, what in the world are you doing at this hour?!" Perry scolded as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. "Have you determined what that animal is and-" Her eyes nearly bulged from their sockets when she saw Carmilla. "Your Highness!" 

LaFontaine raised an eyebrow while Carmilla ran a hand through her tangled hair. "You recognize me?" The Princess asked in disbelief. Surely she looked absolutely dreadful at that point.

"My family's house had a painting of you." Perry admitted quietly, but didn't elaborate further. "In any case, what brings royalty to our home? Specifically, dead royalty. I heard that you were presumed dead when I was trading for baking supplies last week."

Carmilla sighed. "They were mistaken. I'm the animal."

The confession at first didn't appear to faze LaFontaine's wife. "No you're not."

"Yes, she is." LaFontaine got up from their place and put a hand on Perry's shoulder. "I saw her transform before my very eyes." Perry looked back at Carmilla with horrified eyes, and the Princess shrugged.

"I have a curse." She looked down at her nightgown. "And I hope it's alright that I borrowed your bedclothes."

"It's fine." Perry said, and sat on the couch with a huff. LaFontaine hurriedly poured her a cup of tea and handed it to her. "You're not dangerous, are you?"

Carmilla shook her head. "Not unless I want to be."

"Good." Perry was quiet for a while, taking occasional gulps of tea and appearing to be calming herself down.

"I suppose the two of you haven't been properly introduced." LaFontaine announced. "Your Highness, I'd like to introduce my wife, Lo- Perry. Perr, as you already know, this is Princess Carmilla." Carmilla was intrigued that LaFontaine had begun to call their wife by a different name, though she figured it was really none of her business.

"You aren't mad at us for trapping you?" Perry asked the question that she and her spouse both were likely thinking.

"Given the circumstances, I feel that you can be forgiven." Relief washed over the couple as Carmilla set her cup down and folded her hands in her lap. "I just ask that you do not tell anyone about me."

LaFontaine frowned. "But why wouldn't you want people to know? Wouldn't the curse be lifted easier if people knew you weren't dead?"

"Perhaps, though I don't even know how to break this spell." Carmilla admitted. "And I fear for what may happen to me and my loved ones should the sorceress find out that I disobeyed her." Thinking about it, Carmilla realized how truly hopeless her situation seemed to be. For a while, she thought that perhaps her mother would change her mind and decide to turn her back into a human, but that hope was abandoned long before. Even if that were to happen, there was no way she would escape being a part of some wicked scheme.

"What about true love?" Perry piped up, causing Carmilla to raise an eyebrow,

"What?" The Princess and the Professor asked simultaneously.

"True love. Wouldn't Princess Laura be able to break your curse with true love? Perry spoke as if this solution was obvious. "I'm still getting used to the idea of a cat princess in my home, but is that not how this magic thing works? A maiden gets cursed, a prince- or in your case, princess, gives them true love's kiss, and voila, the curse is broken."

"I don't think it's that simple, Perr. This isn't some children's storybook." LaFontaine tried to reason with their wife.

"Maybe not, but maybe she could still help? Princess Laura is still the future ruler of a country." Perry defended. "She has an army at her disposal and you two have a history." 

"And as nice as that sounds, it's not going to happen. Even if I was willing to put Laura in danger, I still really mucked things up between us." The Princess bit her lip because she knew this wasn't true. It killed Carmilla to admit it to herself, but no matter how badly she'd hurt the girl, the previous night had shown that Laura's feelings were still present, even when she believed Carmilla was dead. However, admitting this aloud would have stung even worse, because then Carmilla would have to face the fact that even if she and Laura were still madly, hopelessly in love with each other, they would never be.

"So you say you're sorry, kiss, and make up. It's not that difficult." LaFontaine broke Carmilla's train of thought. "And look, even if you want to protect her, don't you think she deserves to know you're alive? I don't know what I would do if I thought Perry was dead."

Carmilla shook her head. "As much as I wish I could tell her that much, Professor, I don't know how I would go about doing it without some sort of consequence." Carmilla put her tea on the table and rested her head in her hands. She was starving and exhausted, but all of this talk about Laura was taking the greatest toll.

"What if you left a sign? Something subtle that only Princess Laura would understand?" LaFontaine suggested.

Carmilla shook her head."While I appreciate the concern, I'm certain that this problem is mine, and mine alone. I won't drag innocent people into it." She stood from the sofa. "Thank you for the tea, but I think I should be off." Carmilla headed for the door, not seeing the couple share a single look.

"We insist that you stay with us." Perry piped up, stopping Carmilla in her place.

"It's really not safe out there, even if you can turn into a panther." LaFontaine added. "We wouldn't feel right letting a princess live out there on her own. And perhaps I can help research your curse. See if there's anything that can be done."

Carmilla turned back to them, conflicted. The offer was generous and tempting, but she was torn. "How do I know that my presence won't bring harm upon you both?" She asked.

"You really need to work on a new line, because that one is getting old." LaFontaine chuckled. "And we're aware of the risk. We want to help."

Perry gently approached the Princess. "You don't have to be alone, Carmilla." She said softly, almost maternally. It was alien to the Princess, and it was then that Carmilla decided to do the selfish thing. The thing that would undoubtedly bring about more pain in the long-run, but that would give her immediate comfort.

"Alright, I'll stay."

* * *

That same night, far away, in the castle sitting atop a hillside overlooking the Kingdom of Karnstein, Queen Lilita remained oblivious to her daughter's exact whereabouts. She was more preoccupied with a piece of glass, through which she could see through the eyes of a particular person of interest. Not an easy charm, but one that she was decent at. At the present time, the person was restless in their bed, and the Queen was growing bored. She set the shard down on her nightstand.

"William?" She beckoned for her manservant, who'd just returned to duty, and she was glad. His replacements all proved to be utterly incompetent.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" William called just moments later as he entered from his adjoining room.

The Queen stared at the young man's recently disfigured face, still sporting four thick gashes held together by angry black stitches- he only way in which he'd gotten lucky was that Carmilla had missed his eyes. She sighed. Part of his charm had always come from his beauty. "Do you suppose it's time we pay a visit to my Carmilla? I'd hate to think she's misbehaving."

Fear flashed in Lilita's servant's eyes at the mention of her daughter. His hand unconsciously moved to touch his cheek, making him wince at the contact with his wounds. "It has only been a week." William reminded the Queen. "And the only time she was spotted was assumed to be the visions indicating madness in Princess Laura."

"That's true." The Queen conceded, to her servant's obvious surprise. "However, I know not to underestimate Carmilla. She is _my_ daughter, after all."

"That's also true." William turned to look at his reflection in the Queen's vanity mirror, curling his lip in disgust at the sight. "And you're sure that there's absolutely nothing you can do about this?"

"Any harm Carmilla causes while in her animal form is caused by magic. Magical injuries can't be healed with more magic." The Queen repeated what she'd told William the week before. He was lucky she was so patient with him.

The manservant gave a good, long look at his face, appearing to be visualizing what had been before. After a moment, he snapped out of it as if nothing had happened. "So you want to make a trip to the forest? I can make some sort of excuse and give it to the town crier-" William started, but Lilita put up a hand.

"No, you're right, William. Carmilla may have cut it close once, but she knows better than to do much more. Should something else happen, I will know and I will intervene. Until then, I've more important business to take care of." The Queen moved to sit at her vanity, where she scrutinized her, in contrast to William's, never-changing appearance. How anyone could have possibly scorned her, she didn't know.

"Have you figured out a way to Hollis, Your Majesty?" William kneeled beside her.

The Queen smiled. "I believe so." She picked up her powder puff, dabbing it gently on a shiny spot on her nose. "With Carmilla out of the picture, there is always another match that could be made."

"Oh?" William looked surprised. "I didn't think King Frederick was interested in remarriage."

Lilita rolled her eyes. "Please, William. That man was so stupidly in love with that twit Eleanor that I thought it easier to marry a man with no desires at all. And even now, he's in love with a dead woman." The Queen turned to face her manservant. "No, my eyes are still set on the girl. If my daughter won't marry that doe-eyed little knight, then why not I?"

"So you're saying?" William had to know what Lilita meant, but she spelled it out for him anyway.

"I'm going to marry Princess Laura."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hate to leave you guys hanging- no, actually I don't. It's fun. But I will try to get the next chapter out faster than this one.


	12. A Good Sign

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> LaFontaine really isn't a very good liar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how about that hiatus, huh? Ehehehehe. LOOK A CHAPTER!

"Really? 'Get it over with?' I proposed to Perry with a doctor's note and it was still more romantic than that." LaF chuckled as they sterilized a massive needle with a match. Carmilla tried not to think about it going into her arm.

"Not much more. I had food poisoning and you prescribed warm tea along with your hand in marriage." Perry called from the kitchen, where she was preparing a meal. Carmilla's stomach had rumbled once.

"It was spontaneous!" LaFontaine argued, and the Princess laughed, which then turned into a yelp when she was stuck in the arm with the needle.

"I. Had. Food poisoning! The only thing more spontaneous was me getting sick on your shoes directly after." Perry ladled some stew into a bowl and set it down on the table in front of Carmilla.

"Almost done." LaFontaine assured the Princess, who still wasn't allowed to move. Carmilla waited until it felt like the needle was being withdrawn from her arm to breathe again. "There we are. Very good." The Professor held up a vial of what had to be the blood they just drew from the Princess's arm. "See? Nothing to it." They put a stopper on the vial and placed it in the pocket of the white coat they'd donned for Carmilla's procedures.

"And what exactly do you plan on doing with that?" Carmilla asked, accepting a spoon from Perry and preparing to dig in to her first proper meal in what seemed like forever.

"Examining it." LaFontaine pointed to a contraption that appeared to be a series of magnifying glasses, arranged according to size, hanging in a stack above their workbench. "That will give me a closer look at it. I also plan on taking samples once you've shifted again to see if anything fundamental changes or if your transformation is actually purely cosmetic."

"You mean if my blood becomes cat blood?" Carmilla asked.

"Can we please stop talking about blood, and drawing blood, and looking at blood?" Perry asked with a dull tone to her voice. Sitting down on the sofa and looking white as a sheet.

"Sorry, Perr." LaF apologized to their wife. "But yes, to see if your blood becomes cat blood. I also would like to compare your hair to your fur."

"And what exactly is the point of finding all of this out?" Carmilla looked concerned when LaFontaine produced a pair of scissors.

"To see the complexity of the spell. If it actually changes your biology, then I would think it wasn't meant to be broken." They gently snipped off an unnoticeable lock of Carmilla's hair from the back of her head. Out of pure, unadulterated vanity, the Princess's hand flew to the area to feel for a bald spot. "No, I worded that wrong." LaFontaine corrected as they put the lock of hair in another vial. "No self-respecting sorcerer exactly WANTS their curse broken. It really comes down to the effort they put in to prevent that scenario." 

"Right." Carmilla nodded, thinking that the Queen certainly didn't intend for anyone to break the curse;  
only for her to lift it when she so pleased.

"And the change is at sunrise?" Perry asked as she looked out the window, which was starting to let in light. Carmilla nodded. "Then you better get eating."

The princess nodded again and reached for the bowl, but just as she did, she felt the familiar sensation. Carmilla rolled her eyes. "Unfortunately, it's too late for that." She reached down to pull the nightgown over her head, not caring who saw her naked at that point. "Wouldn't want to ruin this." Carmilla told Perry as she tossed the nightgown in her direction. The transformation then forced her down to the floor on all fours as her muscles contracted.

"Does that hurt?" The professor asked, looking wide-eyed and grabbing their notepad and a quill.

Carmilla looked up at them, forcing a toothy smile. "Truthfully, I've experienced more pleasant things." In another second, her fur was growing, and a second after that, the transformation had completed. It was getting easier.

"Oh my word." LaFontaine eyed her as if they hadn't already seen her transform. "Can you still understand me?"

Carmilla sighed and nodded. Honestly, hadn't she made it clear that she was fully conscious during transformations?

"I am not equipped to handle this." Perry put up her hands and stomped back to the bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

"She'll come around." LaFontaine promised Carmilla. "She's just really not used to these things. It took her weeks to comprehend the invention of fertility potions."

Carmilla would have laughed. Fertility potions were a product that hit marketplaces everywhere once her and Laura's courtship had been made public knowledge. Once it was known that two people of the same gender could have a child together using magic, the royal families included, everyone wanted one, and it was something the local petty magic practitioners quickly capitalized on. It caused quite the baby boom the year prior.

"Are you and Perry planning on having any children one day?" Carmilla tried to say, but it only came out as a cat sound. She didn't even know why she asked; it was something she had always avoided thinking about. Obviously, she and Laura had been expected to have children, but the idea had long not appealed to her. Children were loud and obnoxious and messy- and she knew that Laura would have been perfectly content with having a small army of them. Only in recent years had she started coming around. Started to think of little ones with Laura's curious brown eyes, who scrunched their faces up when they were angry, and who loved to read anything they could get their hands on.

Carmilla shook her head and tried to get the thought out of her mind. Fruitless hope could hurt worse than accepting her fate.

"So do you mind if I take hair and blood samples for comparison, now?" LaFontaine asked, already prepping another syringe. And yes, Carmilla did mind. Her arm was still in pain from the last sample being taken only minutes before and she still hadn't gotten the chance to eat. But she shook her head no.

"Wonderful." LaFontaine moved in with the needle, but paused. "You don't suppose I need to take a sample from a different area, do you? I'm not exactly a veterinarian."

"And I'm supposed to know? I wasn't exactly born as a massive feline." Carmilla said, wishing she could be heard.

LaFontaine shrugged. "I guess we'll try a similar spot, and if blood doesn't come out, we'll try elsewhere."

Carmilla's eyes widened. "No, you will not!" She protested.

LaFontaine, looking quite fearless with and without context, ignored the wordless yelps and went for the joint in Carmilla's front leg, pushing in the needle with gusto. Luckily for Carmilla, she felt the same sensation as before. "First attempt." LaFontaine boasted, and Carmilla rolled her eyes. After a moment, the Professor withdrew the needle and placed the blood in another vial. LaFontaine then reached for the scissors. "And now the hair."

Carmilla moved her head from side to side. She was hungry.

"Why not?" LaFontaine asked, likely surprised that Carmilla would agree to the more painful of the two, but not the other. Carmilla tapped her front paw on the floor below where her food was still sitting on the table.

LaFontaine understood. "You want to eat first?" The Princess nodded, and the Professor deliberated a moment. "Alright." They said, and unexpectedly picked up Carmilla's bowl and headed for the cabin's front door. The princess growled, wondering if LaFontaine was eager to let her get hungry enough to let her instincts kick in. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you might make a mess if you eat inside, and Perry hates messes." The Professor proceeded to the door.

"I am the heir to a throne and I will not eat outside like some pet!" Carmilla tried to argue in another growl.  
LaFontaine sighed. "Fine. We'll compromise. If you let me take your hair sample, I will let you eat inside. But you have to eat in the kitchen." They gave in.

"Perhaps you will escape the gallows, yet." Carmilla grumbled to herself as she followed the Professor back to the table.

* * *

"Danny, are you sure that this is where we were?" Laura looked around at the area surrounding their location on the forest road. Admittedly, it had been raining pretty hard, but she thought that the placement of the trees was off from before.

"It's approximately where we were considering the time of night when the carriage stopped, when we left Karnstein, and the speed we were traveling at due to the rain." The Captain of the guard replied from atop her horse. "But no, probably not precisely the same area."

"I thought so." The Princess crouched down and looked at the dirt for paw prints that she knew she wouldn't find. "How big of a margin of error would you say that your calculation allows for?"   
The redhead thought a moment. "Two leagues?" This answer didn't satisfy Laura.

"We're never going to find this animal." The Princess sounded dejected. "And everyone thinks I'm losing my sanity because apparently I'm seeing things that aren't really there. Carmilla used to only wish that she could drive me crazy."

"Laura-" Danny tried to argue this, but Laura put up a finger to stop her. "-Not everyone thinks you're going insane."

"You do." Laura avoided looking at Danny's expression, because she knew she was right. "You're probably only assisting me because my father thinks I need some sort of grieving process, but he doesn't want me to bring harm to myself."

Danny never responded to this claim. "I think we should keep walking. Perhaps that will take us to where we were." She instead suggested.

Laura nodded. "I agree." She hoisted herself back onto her own horse. "But we'll travel slowly to ensure that we don't miss it when we come upon the spot."

"Of course." Danny agreed, and snapped the reigns of her horse, signaling him to walk at a leisurely trot. Laura followed suit, and the two were off. There was no conversation between the two, which would have ordinarily made the Princess uneasy, but that day, it was a relief. Her best friend was her guard, and her guard thought that she was losing her mind and possibly a harm to herself. In truth, Laura was starting to wonder the same thing- especially when she swore she saw a stream of smoke rising over the forest.

"Danny?" She called to her guard, who rode just ahead.

"Yes, Your Highness?" The Captain replied, slowing to fall back and ride just alongside Laura, who was trying to ignore the fact that Danny had apparently stopped calling her by her only by her first name in private.

"Do you suppose that there's a forest fire?" Laura asked, pointing at the smoke.

"I doubt it; it seems awfully contained. Why? Do you think that we should evacuate the forest just in case?" Danny asked, preparing to turn her horse around the minute Laura gave the word. Ever the dutiful captain.

"No." In the event of a forest fire, the last thing on Laura's mind was getting herself out of there, but rather, how Carmilla would get out. "Does it not resemble a chimney fire?" She wondered aloud, finding it incredibly odd that they would see such a thing, but preferring that theory to a forest fire. Even if the woods were supposedly a hostile environment for humans.

"It does, actually." Danny agreed, looking puzzled.

Without hesitation, Laura's mind wandered to the possibilities of such a thing. "You don't suppose the owners of that chimney would have happened to see anything, do you?"

Danny for once didn't look at the Princess as if she had suggested that they make a trip to the land of chocolate mountains and candy plants. "If you think so, we can go and ask." The Captain offered without Laura even having to suggest what was indeed on her mind.

Without a word, Laura was riding in the direction of the smoke, not caring to see if Danny was keeping up. When she was forced to ride off of the road, she slowed slightly as a courtesy to her horse, but she didn't stop until they broke into a clearing. "Whoa!" Laura called to the filly, pulling back on the reigns so that they didn't ram into the small cottage that was the source of the smoke.

Moments later, Danny followed suit. "My gods! People actually live out here!" The Captain gasped. "We were always told it was inhabitable.

"Perhaps the owners have a death wish?" Laura offered. "In any case, we will try to speak with the,." She dismounted the horse and looked for a place to hitch her for the time being, settling on a tree that stood next to a rather crookedly grown neighbor. "You behave yourself." She whispered in the filly's ear after tying the rope she'd brought along.

In a moment, Danny had done the same with hers and was escorting Laura to the front door. "They could be dangerous woods people!" The Captain argued when Laura started to lead the way.

"And you know full well that I can handle myself." The Princess shot back, putting her hand to the sword at her side. "I'm not afraid." She straightened her posture and rapped on the door three times.

"Um... who is it?" A voice called from inside. It didn't sound like it belonged to a hardened 'woods person.'

"Princess Laura of Hollis." Laura replied in the clear, loud voice she used whenever her father had her address citizens. A moment later, the door swung open, revealing a person that looked like they hadn't slept in days. They also didn't exactly have the look on their face that Laura would expect someone would have if royalty came to their home that was located in a remote location. It wasn't as if Laura was disappointed that they didn't instantaneously worship her; she wasn't vain, she just thought it curious.

"Princess Laura." The person bowed their head. "What brings me the honor of royalty on my grounds?" They wore what was customary for a physician, which Laura had definitely not expected to find so far away from the rest of civilization.

"I'm on a hunt for a great beast and I was hoping that you may have some insight?" Laura hoped that she didn't sound like she was completely off her rocker. Enough people thought so as it was.

The person paused a moment, before smiling wide. "I may indeed. Would you and your-" They looked past Laura and tilted their head up. "-Companion like to come inside?"

"Captain Daniella Lawrence of the Hollis Castle Guard." Danny introduced herself, and though Laura wasn't looking at her, she could tell that Danny was forcing herself to smile politely.

"You left the castle!" The homeowner exclaimed as they opened the door wider and stepped aside. 

"Yes. I do whenever Her Royal Highness does." Danny said, and Laura rolled her eyes. Following formal protocol in the presence of commoners didn't seem to allow for jokes. The pair entered the cabin slowly, allowing the person to escort them to the sitting area.

"So a great beast you say?" The homeowner asked. Their eyes darted to one side unexpectedly, and Laura looked as well.  A far window was smashed out.

"What happened there?" Laura asked off-topic, pointing to the window.

"Oh, my wife...threw cookware at my head and missed." The person shrugged. "I simply am embarrassed that I haven't gotten around to fixing it. Would you mind giving me details on the beast?"

"It's a rather large black cat." Danny answered for Laura. "The size of a man and a half." The homeowner audibly gasped at this information

"You know, we never learned your name." Laura pointed out, still finding the story behind the broken window...odd.

"LaF- Lafferty. Professor Lafferty." They became quite animated in their movements upon their introduction, albeit, a strangely stuttered one. "I study the biology of animals. In the wild. Wild animals."

Laura raised an eyebrow at their specificity. "So you moved out here alone to study the animals?"

"Oh, no. I moved with my wife. But she's unfortunately resting at the moment." The professor smirked. "We...had a long night."

This admittedly made Laura not wish to press further on that particular subject. "And have you happened to come across the beast we described?"

The odd professor shook their head. "Unfortunately, no. I have come across a puffin, though. Can either of you explain what a seabird is doing so far from the sea? Because I certainly can't."

Danny let out an exasperated sigh. "And you haven't seen anything strange in the last few days? Anything at all?"

"Did I not just tell you that there is a _puffin_ in the _forest_? Why is there a puffin in the forest, Your Highness? You tell me!" The Professor shouted.

"I don't know!" Laura yelled back, losing the last ounce of her patience with the strange person. She was about to tell them as much when the sounds of two horses screaming carried through the broken window.

Without a thought, Laura and Danny were sprinting out the door and dashing to their horses, who were still quite riled up, despite there being no apparent agitator in sight.

"What in the world do you think caused this?" Danny asked, stepping back and holding her hands up to try and calm her spooked stallion.

"It's the forest. There's apparently everything from mythical beasts to mad scientists." Laura responded as she tried the same method on her filly.

In a few moments, the apparent threat of being kicked in the face seemed to be gone, and Danny was unhitching her horse. "I don't know about you, but I have had quite enough excitement for one day."

Part of Laura wished to continue their search because the Professor had obviously been hiding something. Another part was starting to think that this was all as out of control as people said. That perhaps she should start the healing process instead of holding on to a shred of outlandish hope for...she didn't even know what at that point.

"Yes, we should head back to the castle." Laura finally admitted, and moved to unhitch her horse. But as she untied the rope, the crooked tree at its side caught her eye.

Crudely cut into the bark with what had to be an incredibly sharp dagger, or something of the like, was Laura's name within a heart. The one in her chest skipped a beat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I apologize for the delay on this one. Midterms and day jobs wiped out my creativity for a while, but I'm hopefully back in the swing of things.


	13. The Hunt Is On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> LaFerry backstory AND significant plot development? It's more common than you'd think!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two words: Cartinelli. Fanfiction.  
> Hopefully this chapter was worth the wait, though.

Laura stood petrified as she stared at the carving, wondering if it would turn out she was seeing things again. But at that moment, her name was very clearly etched into the tree, and she wasn't entirely sure what she was supposed to be feeling in that moment. Elation? Hope? Both?

"That...wasn't there when we left." Danny said eventually, confirming that Laura was indeed seeing what she thought. 

The Princess erupted into a fit of laughter, startling her guard. "She's alive!" Laura announced. "It's Carmilla!" She felt that her heart may burst as she pressed her hand to the carving, running her finger over the grooves of the lettering.

"Laura?" Danny called from behind her, and it sounded like the guard wasn't exactly sure what to think of this new development, either. "How can you be so sure?"

Laura rolled her eyes as if it should have been obvious to anyone. "Prinzessin meines Herzens." She smiled. "That's what Carmilla called me."

It looked like the pieces were coming together in Danny's head. Laura written within a heart. "Laura, there are so many ways to interpret it." And this certainly wasn't what Laura was expecting she would say.

"Then what else could it mean?" The Princess asked, finding it absurd that Danny could question something that was so obvious to her. "Do you think I have a peasant following me and deciding that I like my name carved into things? Because in case it's escaped you, we are in the middle of the forest with nobody else around except for a strange little person who lives in a cabin."

"A person who apparently has a wife we never saw. Who's to say that she didn't do this?" Danny suggested, and Laura bit her lip. She wanted to believe that Carmilla was alive, but she knew that it was indeed a valid suggestion.

"Then let's go back." Laura tied her horse back to the tree without hesitation. "We must approach this from all angles if we're to get to the bottom of it. It needs to be done if there is any hope at all of finding Carmilla, or killing the beast, or both."

Danny didn't respond with anything that would suggest that Laura shouldn't get her hopes up, but she nodded and drew her sword. "I'll cover you, should they be dangerous. That Lafferty character came off as unstable."

"Thank you." Laura turned on her heel and stomped on the direction of the cabin with determination. She threw the door open without knocking this time, revealing Lafferty, or whatever their name was, sitting calmly at the table.  
"You've returned." They stated, looking down at their folded hands. "Do you have any more questions for me? You ran off in quite the hurry."

"Where is your wife?" Laura cut to the chase, not wasting any more time with the strange scientist who was obviously hiding something.

"Asleep, as I told you before." Lafferty reached for a tea kettle, pouring themself a cup.

"Then you will have to wake her up." Laura demanded.

Lafferty sighed. "I know you've never been married, but you have to understand that I don't have a desire to be murdered." They sipped their tea.

Ever the dutiful guard, without warning, Danny pulled her sword and held it out in Lafferty's direction. "The Princess has asked you to present your wife. Do you truly wish to make her ask twice?"  
The reality of the situation seemed to finally set in for Lafferty as they stared down the shining blade of the weapon trained on their throat. Their face went ashen, and they bit their lip as they seemed to contemplate the best way to not get executed, but also not tell the absolute truth.

Perhaps it was her will going soft, and perhaps it was simply the influence of her father, who always saw to it that his people were treated fairly, but the sight made Laura uneasy. She watched Lafferty put their own life on the line to seemingly protect their wife from something.

"Get your wife. _Now_." Danny demanded once more. "I won't ask you again."

Lafferty sighed, placing their hands on the table and pushing themselves to their feet, when suddenly, there was the creak of a door.

"There's no need for that." A high voice that was somehow familiar to Laura called from across the cabin. Laura, Danny, and Lafferty turned in the direction of the bedroom door to watch as a woman stepped out of the darkness. "It's alright, LaFontaine." She said calmingly to her spouse.

"Perr-" _LaFontaine_ tried to fearfully object. Obviously because of the fact that Laura had indeed met their wife before.

"It's nice to see you again, Princess Laura. It's been a long while."

Laura would have recognized the untamable red hair and wound-too-tight demeanor anywhere.

"Lady Lola?" The Princess sought confirmation in disbelief. If she was correct, then it would have appeared that the strange Professor- if they even were a professor -Lafontaine's wife had a higher birth than one would suspect from someone who willingly lived in the middle of a notoriously dangerous forest.

"So you do remember me?" Lola smiled with melancholy, and Laura was definitely sure.

The Princess nodded. "You're the daughter of the Duke of Crowley." She said more for Danny than for herself, and she heard the guard quietly gasp. "He's claimed that you've been ill for years."

This detail seemed to have been previously unknown to Lola, who chuckled at her father's actions in her absence. "Yes, well, having a perpetually sick daughter is far less shameful than a daughter who ran away and eloped with her doctor once she got better." Then she shrugged. "Though I suppose that would explain why we weren't found until now. You can't exactly send out a search party for your child who is home in bed."

"No, I suppose you can't." Laura agreed, still in shock at what she'd unintentionally uncovered.

"But I also suppose that you are likely going to quietly disclose our whereabouts to my parents. Your duty as our kingdom's future leader and all." Lola moved to LaFontaine's side, and the Professor comfortingly squeezed her hand.

The trials that this couple faced in comparison to her relationship with Carmilla made Laura's heart feel as if it were cracking. She had spent so much time trying to avoid being with the woman she loved, while these two people would have and did give up everything to be together. The thought of causing their sacrifice to be futile was disgusting.

"I don't have to. I merely am seeking some answers." Laura said quietly, hoping that now that the secret of their identities was out, Lola and LaFontaine would feel comfortable revealing something they weren't before.

"I'm afraid that we've already told you all we can." Lola insisted, but her spouse cleared their throat.

"Not quite, actually." LaFontaine admitted.

Laura's heart skipped a beat, but she kept her composure. Opting to channel one of Carmilla's eyebrow raises. "Oh?"

"You see, this beast you seek is a cat, correct?" LaFontaine asked.

Danny groaned, apparently not willing to endure another strange rant on LaFontaine's part, though Laura was almost certain that that had merely been a distraction before. "Yes. Where are you going with this?" The guard prompted.

"Well, I can't help but notice that it's quite early in the day, and you are looking for the monster." The Professor started, and at first Laura wondered if Danny had been right to brace herself for a pointless rant. "But you should know that cats instinctually are nocturnal, and I don't think this one is any different." Laura and Danny shared a look when they realized that the advice wasn't pointless after all. At the same time, LaFontaine was sharing a look with their wife. Then they turned back to the Princess and Guard. "You might try looking at night."

"What a novel idea! If not for the dangers these woods hold at night." Danny's voice dripped with sarcasm.

LaFontaine rolled their eyes. "We sleep in these woods. They aren't that dangerous. Someone lied." They explained as if it were the most simple thing in the world.

"Oh." Danny seemed to struggle to find an argument against what LaFontaine was saying. "Then I suppose we'll have to return tomorrow." She said finally.

"Tonight. We'll return tonight after dark." Laura corrected her Captain with conviction. She wasn't going to squander a chance to catch the beast. "But we'll return to the castle to gather your people."

Danny looked as if she wished to argue the matter, but she and Laura both knew that they would return to the forest that night, no matter what she said. She nodded her head once and led the way to the cabin door.

"Princess Laura?" Lola called after them after Danny had already walked out.

"Yes?" Laura asked, turning back around.  
Lola got close enough so that she could speak in hushed tones. "You won't tell my father you found me, will you?" She asked quickly.

Without hesitation, Laura shook her head. "It's not my place to do so." She watched as relief washed over Perry's face. "Your secret is safe with me."

Perry looked as if she had much to say, but settled on a simple, "Thank you." Behind her, LaFontaine looked as if this was the best news the two of them had received in a long while. Laura knew that she'd made the right decision, even if it perhaps wasn't her duty as Princess. She waved as she headed out to join Danny, waiting just outside the door.

"And just what exactly are we looking for? Carmilla? The beast?" The Captain wasted no time as she escorted Laura once more to the trees where their horses were tied, though the animals seemed much more calm this time around.

"Whichever we see first." Laura answered, making quick work of the rope and mounting her filly.

"And if we see the beast?" Danny asked as she did the same. The day's events must have made her think that Laura would change her stance on the subject.

"Kill it." Laura confirmed after a moment. "It might well be just a pawn in the scheme of things, but it is violent and attacked Carmilla in the first place." Laura kicked her horse into action, riding back in the direction of the path.

"And you still wish to eliminate it yourself?" Danny checked, taking the extra effort to ride alongside Laura on the treacherous terrain.

"Yes." Laura's voice was cold, and she knew that her reason for this was only pride, but she stood by it. "So in the event that we see it, I ask that you stand back."

"I will so long as your life is not in danger." Danny promised, giving the amount of certainty any good guard would.

The corners of Laura's mouth crept upward. "That's all I ask of you."

Danny nodded. "Then it's time to gather the troops."

* * *

King Frederick was not particularly keen on the idea of his only child leading a search party or hunt- Laura wasn't sure which, after all- in the dark, in the most dangerous area of the region. When Laura and Danny had explained their day and their plan to him, he swore he had half a mind to have Laura locked in her room, and Danny put in the infirmary until she was sound again. However, the benevolent king must have realized that it was closure his daughter needed, and keeping Laura from things she was determined to get had never once worked in his favor, so Frederick had conceded on the condition that Laura take no less than twenty-five castle guards with her.

By the time everyone was assembled, it was past ten in the evening, and the large party travelling to the forest caught the attention of everyone in the town. Laura couldn't help but think that it was yet another reason her subjects had to assume that the heir to their kingdom had gone completely bonkers. Admittedly, the Princess couldn't help but agree with them as she stood before her search party of thirty, including herself, near where she had sworn she'd seen Carmilla in the rain.

"Everyone will spread out." Laura started, and cleared her throat to give herself more volume. "If we search in one place, we will never find a thing." The guards seemed skeptical, to say the least.

"And if we split up, we are making ourselves vulnerable to attack." The voice of Lieutenant Kirsch piped up from the crowd, and he stepped forward, his face illuminated by the oil lamp he carried. "It's dark, and if that monster is lurking around here, then we are at risk."

Despite it being improper, and some would say dimwitted, to speak out against royalty, Laura had to admire Kirsch's courage to state what he believed to be safest for himself and his troops. "Groups of threes, then." The Princess amended herself accordingly and turned to Danny. "Captain Lawrence, you and Lieutenant Kirsch shall accompany me. You may divide the rest of your troops however you see fit."

While this command seemed to satisfy Kirsch, Danny seemed hesitant. "I'm not certain that groups of three will be enough in the event of an attack. You have seen what the monster is capable of." She reminded Laura quietly before making any further actions.

"This is not simply a brutish animal. I don't believe it will attack any groups of people at random." Laura couldn't help but think that there would have been reports of further attacks, had Danny's suspicions been the case.

"Then what would you call a massive cat who nearly tore the face off of an innocent man before our very eyes?" Kirsch asked, stepping forward and speaking in a harsh whisper so that his men and women wouldn't hear.

"I'm not yet certain, Lieutenant, but please do care to remember that you are addressing your future queen, and she doesn't appreciate the attitude." Laura didn't appreciate being patronized, and her position had to mean something, even if nobody thought she was of a stable mind anymore.

"Right. My apologies, Your Highness." Kirsch bowed his head, and Laura immediately regretted her harsh words, remembering how close her Lieutenant had become with Queen Lilita's manservant.

"It's alright." Laura forgave him quietly, thinking that it was somewhat unusual for a Princess to apologize for asserting her position, but ultimately the decent thing to do. She motioned for Danny to step away and assign groups, turning back to Kirsch only when she was gone. "I know how much you care for William. Have you heard of his condition?"

Laura's kindness must have become somewhat rare in recent days, for Kirsch was initially taken aback by the question. "His last letter was two days ago; he says he's doing alright." The way Kirsch's voice softened at this made the Princess wonder if what he shared with William was strictly platonic, but it wasn't exactly her place to ask.

"I'm glad to hear it." Laura nodded her head once, and Kirsch moved to stand with Danny to assist her. "And Lieutenant?" Laura called after him.

Kirsch stopped in his place and whipped around. "Yes, Your Highness?"

"Never forget that no matter what the monster has done, it still has had a hand in keeping Carmilla from me. I will have our vengeance in due time." Laura promised.

A smile spread across Kirsch's face. "Good."

A few moments later, Danny returned to Laura. "Alright, all assembled. We're just waiting for your final command."

Laura tried to stand tall before her guards, but couldn't help but feel a bit like an elf from her childhood storybooks while standing before twenty-nine people, all in comparable size to her Captain and Lieutenant. She cleared her throat again. "Scatter. Comb the area. Should you find something of interest, shout for me. In the unlikely case that you are attacked, feel free to fight for your life while holding nothing back." She couldn't expect her guards to willingly die simply so that the monster's blood was on _her_ hands. "And the best of luck to you. We shall meet back here in three hours time."

Danny looked to Laura to make sure she was finished speaking before standing before the guards once more. "Move out!" She commanded, and returned to Laura's side.  
  
"Let's go." The Princess whispered. "We'll walk in the direction of the cabin. I know the owners claim to have not personally seen the creature, but the recent activity in that area can't be ignored." She led Danny and Kirsch to the thick of the forest.

"What cabin is she speaking of?" Laura heard Kirsch ask Danny a few minutes later.

"The home of some truly strange people." Danny responded. "But they're harmless."

Kirsch must have decided not to ask any further questions of his Princess and Captain, for he was silent the rest of the journey to the cabin. When they reached the clearing of the cabin, Laura motioned for them to go around, following a feeling in the pit of her stomach and deciding to continue on a way's beyond it. Yet, it seemed as though the forest grew darker as the trees loomed taller in the depths of the forest, and at times, Laura figured she could see only an arm's length in front of her, even with her lamp firmly in her grasp.

They must have travelled a league beyond the cabin when Laura swore that she heard a sound not unlike a branch snapping just beyond where her lamp illuminated her surroundings.

"What was that?" Laura asked, feeling her heartbeat quicken as she turned to Danny and Kirsch, who seemed in much better sorts.

"What was what?" Danny asked, seeming uneasy to be so far out into the forest- she had already said as much- but otherwise calm.

"That sound. You didn't hear it?" Laura asked, beginning to wonder if she had just been working herself up.

"What sound, Your Highness?" Kirsch asked with an attitude similar to Danny's.

"I thought-" Laura frowned and shook her head, now convinced that she'd been mistaken. "-it was likely just a bird in the trees."

The guards nodded, and the trio continued moving.

"It's certainly eerie out here at this time of night." Kirsch said after only a few paces, causing Danny to laugh.

"You aren't afraid, are you, Kirsch?" The Captain asked, amused.

"Me? Of course not!" The Lieutenant denied the accusation, attempting to laugh it off. "I just think that it's probably not safe for the Princess."

Danny sighed. "The Princess has been wielding a sword since she could walk, and I have trained her personally. She can handle herself just fine." She assured Kirsch with more confidence than Laura had heard from her in a long while.

"The Princess is right here." Laura reminded the two of them playfully. "You needn't speak as if she weren't."

"We beg your pardon, Your Highness." Danny apologized for the both of them.

Laura chuckled. "It's alright." She forgave them and once again turned her attention to nothing but the forest in front of her.

Shortly afterward, there was another crack, sounding as if it was just to the side of them.

"I know I heard something." Laura whispered, and turned in every which direction, holding out her lamp to see if she could catch a glimpse of whatever was in the shadows. "Come out! Show yourself!"

"In the name of King Frederick, whoever is out there must show themselves immediately." Danny followed, and Laura couldn't help but think that whatever their stalker was, it likely didn't have any allegiance for her father. Or any crown, for that matter.

Laura turned her head again, and out of the corner of her eye, she swore she saw a pair of glowing eyes.

"It's there!" The Princess exclaimed, and in under a second, she was racing in the direction of the eyes, leaping over hazardous rocks and fallen trees as she made out the clear outline of a large cat in front of her.

"Laura!"

"Your Highness!" The two guards called after her as the distance between them started to increase. But Laura didn't care. She wouldn't let her eyes leave the retreating figure.

"Face me you coward! Or do you not have the courage to fight those with the equipment necessary to fight back?" Laura shouted at it, wondering why such a fearsome beast would even run in the first place. She swore she was gaining on it- something she initially thought impossible, when the figure disappeared altogether.

Laura's confusion only lasted a moment before she found herself running over the side of a sizeable dropoff, and she felt her pace quicken before she was tumbling down, certain that she was about to crack her neck and die. What a way to go when chasing a murderous beast through the supposedly monster-infested forest. But to her surprise, the tumbling soon stopped, and once the world stopped spinning around her, Laura found that she had landed just inches in front of a stream.

"Laura!" The Princess heard her Captain call in the distance. She hadn't thought that she'd made it so far out ahead of her protectors, but she must have miscalculated how fast she'd been running to keep up with the beast.

The beast.

Laura scrambled to her feet, knowing that she'd probably lost it in her tumble, but having to make certain of that fact.

Across the stream, there was a clearing, which was much brighter than the thick of the forest, and standing in the center, seeming to wait for her patiently, was the monster. In a matter of seconds, Laura had drawn her sword and splashed across the shallow water, going at the monster with all her might. It was the moment she'd been waiting for, and from the looks of it, the thing wasn't even going to fight back.

"You're mine." Laura snarled and swung her sword at the beast, surprised when it jumped away at the last second. It roared at her once, yet didn't pounce, nor retreat. Laura was confused, but swung at it again. This time the beast stayed right where it was, but put up one paw and batted the sword out of Laura's hand as if it were nothing. It roared again, and the Princess was sure she was about to die.

In a last ditch effort, Laura reached to her side and pulled out her dagger, holding it out in front of her. "Well, what are you waiting for?" She slashed at the air. "I'm right here!" She slashed again, stepping forward. The beast stayed right where it was, but its muscles clenched. Laura knew it would attack soon. She looked down at her left hand, at the red and black ring which told everyone who her heart still belonged to before clenching the dagger harder in her right. In one move, Laura lunged at the beast, the dagger trained right on its heart. In another, she was being tackled to the ground. The beast's front paws pressed her shoulders firmly down, but Laura waited for one to come up and slash her across the face. Or perhaps the beast would bite her head off- its mouth seemed big enough, from how wide it got as it roared in Laura's face over and over again.

Laura didn't know how long she'd been held down before something strange began to happen. The weight on her somehow started to seem lighter. The claws lightly digging into her shoulders retracted. The glowing, yellowish eyes changed into a familiar shade of chocolate in one blink, and finally, Carmilla's long, raven hair was hanging down into Laura's face as she wordlessly screamed at her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The cat's out of the bag.


	14. Love Potion #9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot happens.

The look in Laura's eyes had to be something between horror and shock, and Carmilla immediately jumped off of her and took several steps back, knowing she should run and pretend the incident had never happened, but also knowing that there was no way she could do that now. She stood frozen as she watched Laura shakily bring herself up into a sitting position.

"It-it can't be you." Laura whispered almost inaudibly.

Carmilla took a few cautious steps back toward the other Princess. "As much as I wish it hadn't come to this, it's really me, Laura." She held out one hand in front of her, as if to say that she wouldn't come any closer than necessary..

In a flash, Laura had retrieved her dagger and scrambled to her feet. "You were a giant black cat a moment ago and now you look just like Carmilla, though I'm not convinced you truly are her."

Carmilla couldn't exactly blame Laura for having trouble believing what was right before her eyes. Especially with all of the trickery magic was capable of. "Laura, I swear to you, I'm the same person that you've known since we were children."

Laura held out the weapon with her dominant hand while the other moved to rest on her hip. "Prove it." She ordered.

Carmilla thought a moment for something that was entirely between them, finding it somewhat difficult to come up with something while Laura had a weapon pulled on her. She gasped when she thought of one. "I once danced with Princess Elsie to make you jealous. The next day, I whispered to you, and I quote, 'You are far more difficult to get on your back than the princess from the Summer Islands.' Then you knocked the wind out of me." Carmilla recounted this and immediately felt it would be fair for her to be kicked in the stomach again.

Laura frowned at this, too. "Because you deserved it." She justified her actions quickly, not thinking of the implications behind the statement.

"So you do believe that it's me?" Carmilla asked, taking another tiny step forward.

Laura threw her dagger to the ground and closed the distance between her and Carmilla, pulling the princess into a tight embrace. "This is madness." She whispered into Carmilla's ear, holding her tight as if she still wasn't sure this was real.

Carmilla gently began rubbing circles into Laura's back. "I agree completely." Knowing the inevitable disaster that would come with Laura knowing her secret, Carmilla didn't want to let go, either. She felt like protesting when Laura suddenly pulled herself away.

"How did this happen to you?" Laura asked, gazing up and down Carmilla's body to see if anything was particularly changed.

Carmilla blushed at the fact that this was not exactly how she imagined Laura seeing her naked the first time, but she knew that now wasn't the best time to be thinking about such things. "A curse. By a sorceress." She described vaguely, thinking maybe Laura could be saved if she didn't learn the whole truth.

"Your mother said the beast that attacked her years ago is the one that attacked your carriage." Laura explained, the cogs all coming together in her head.

"Lies." Carmilla said simply.

"Why would she lie about such a thing? I would have killed you if I had the chance!" Laura pointed at her weapons strewn about the clearing.

Carmilla sighed. "I fear that you would be in grave danger if I told you."

Laura, never having been one to let things go over her head, understood immediately. "...It's her, isn't it? Your mother is the Sorceress?" She asked quietly, seeming to wonder along with Carmilla if they were being watched right that minute.

The thought of her mother showing up in a cloud of smoke and lightning, dead set on turning Laura into a toad or something of the sort, flashed before Carmilla's eyes. "You have to go." She told Laura suddenly, giving her the answer to her question,.

"You can't honestly think that I will simply leave you in the woods. Not when your mother could do Gods know what else to you." Laura stood her ground, ever the hero. Carmilla found it incredibly endearing, if not completely inadvisable.

"Laura, I don't want you to get hurt." Carmilla said, knowing that it would be absolutely futile.

Laura crossed her arms across her chest, planting her feet firmly where they were. "So I'm supposed to run home and let whatever may happen to you happen? I won't, Carmilla and I would have expected you to know me better than that."

Despite the danger behind her words, Carmilla couldn't stop herself from smiling ever so slightly; Laura was brave almost to a fault, but it was undeniably attractive. She moved forward, her lips seeking Laura's, and the other Princess was happy to oblige. Carmilla's mouth had just barely brushed Laura's upper lip when the shouts started up in the distance.

"Princess Laura!" A voice that sounded like the dimwitted Lieutenant Kirsch called out into the forest.

Carmilla sighed and moved her hands up to cup Laura's face. "They're looking for you." She whispered.

"They can keep looking." Laura moved in to kiss her, but Carmilla moved away again.

As much as she loathed to be the rational one, especially in a moment such as this, Carmilla shook her head. "Laura, the last thing your kingdom needs at the moment is the vulnerability of having no heir to the throne." The idea of Laura hiding with her, never having to return to the castle, was an impossible fantasy Carmilla wouldn't allow herself to have.

Laura frowned, knowing full-well that Carmilla was right. "This curse of yours, does it allow you to change back into a human regularly?" She asked, gesturing at Carmilla's naked form.

Carmilla nodded. "Every night. Why?"

Laura sighed. "I have to go. But I'll return tomorrow. And the next night, and every night after until your curse is broken." It was an enormous promise, but Laura appeared to mean absolutely every word she said.

"Laura, you can't possibly-" Carmilla started, thinking not only of the danger, but of what people might think of the Princess of Hollis disappearing into the dark forest every night, doing Gods know what.

"I will do whatever it takes to make it so." Laura reiterated, and set about to retrieving her weapons from the ground and placing them in their rightful places on her side.

"I think you underestimate the power my mother possesses. It's no small feat to perform a spell that causes a human to change form." The thought of Laura dead or as a toad returned to Carmilla's mind.

"But no power is unstoppable." Laura assured her, ever the tiny, gallant knight in shining armor.

"Your Highness, are you out there?" This voice was closer than the last. It clearly belonged to Danny, and Carmilla had to remind herself that she was a human, and humans don't growl at those they don't like.

"I have to go." Laura said again.

"Laura, please, just take precautions to protect your kingdom. Don't worry about me." Carmilla all but begged of her.

Laura rolled her eyes at the request. "Thirteen years, and you still don't know me at all, do you?" She turned to leave, eyeing a route she could take to get back up the steep hill she'd tumbled down. "I'll be back tomorrow."

"I change at midnight. I'll be just inside the thick of the forest, near where you leave the road to go to the scientist's home." Carmilla told her, not wanting Laura to have to see her as a monster again.

Surprisingly, this set of instructions made Laura gasp and turn around. "I knew that they knew you!" She said in reference to LaFontaine and Perry.

Carmilla rolled her eyes at the couple's feeble attempts to make themselves out to be innocents. "Don't hold it against them. They were only doing as I said."

Laura nodded in understanding, but suddenly her face shifted. "And do they...see you like this?" Laura gestured at Carmilla again, and at first gave the indication that she was referring to the human form, but the red tint to her cheeks said otherwise.

Carmilla laughed. "They provide me with clothes."

Laura nodded, trying to give off the impression that she'd ask for anything other than selfish reasons. "Good. I would hate for you to catch a cold on top of everything else."

"Because a cold is the worst of my problems." Carmilla laughed, and Laura turned to leave again, making it almost to the stream before turning around and making a beeline for Carmilla.

She grabbed Carmilla's face without hesitation and brought their mouths together for a brief moment before pulling away again. "Tomorrow." Laura whispered.

"Tomorrow." Carmilla agreed.

* * *

"What in the world were you thinking, running off into the forest in the dead of night, chasing some unholy beast, ALONE?"

Laura had known the minute that she'd returned to Danny and Kirsch and been told that they'd sent someone ahead to alert the king of her absence that she would have some explaining to do. She hadn't quite seen her father ever get as worked up before as he was now, standing in the castle's grand foyer, wearing a robe over his bedclothes.

Laura looked down at the marble of the floor. "It wasn't my intention to put myself in danger." She told King Frederick in a hushed tone, somewhat embarrassed that her scolding was so public, what with all of the guards as witnesses.

"And what a relief it is to know that you did not intentionally nearly get yourself killed." The King said sarcastically. "Honestly, Laura, have you ever considered for one moment that you simply can't go gallivanting about when you are expected to rule this kingdom one day?" The way her father spoke reminded Laura of the time she was scolded for climbing a tree when she was seven, and it wasn't exactly appreciated.

Laura sighed and ran a hand through her hair. The weight of the evening was coming down on her and she desperately needed some time alone to collect her thoughts. "I did exactly what you said. I took Danny- Captain Lawrence, Lieutenant Kirsch, and an additional 28 guards with me. In a moment of confusion, I accidentally got out of the sight of my escorts. I apologize."

Laura's father did not seem impressed by this. "Apologies do not even begin to cover it, Laura. You could have been killed!"

Laura crossed her arms. "But I wasn't. I'm not even harmed." Had she not have been running on only a few hours of sleep over the course of the last few days, she would have known better than to argue against King Frederick's insistence to shelter her from everything.

"But you could have been! And I've had it with your recklessness. Just because Princess Carmilla is dead doesn't mean that you need to go off and get yourself killed, too." The callousness of the King's words took everyone aback, especially since they had all most certainly been instructed to tread carefully around Laura since the incident.

But following the events of that evening, Laura found it relatively easy to remain perfectly calm. "Then what are you going to do, Father? Order my servants to not bring me dessert like you would when I was a child and threw a tantrum?"

"No. I am ordering you to remain on castle grounds at all times for the next coming weeks. I believe keeping away from those woods will do you a world of good." King Frederick couldn't have known the full extent of what his order would entail.

Laura stood her ground, knowing that there was no way she would willingly comply with this order. "And if I refuse? Father, I just know that there is something coming and-"

"Do I need to have a watchman put at your bedside?" The King looked to the readily available guards standing in the foyer, pretending like they weren't watching their princess be treated like a petulant child.

"No." Laura replied coldly, already thinking of how she would get out the next night.

The King nodded once. "Good. Captain Lawrence, would you please escort my daughter to her bedchambers immediately?" He ordered Danny without even having to find her in the crowd of guards.

Danny stepped forward, and Laura gave her a warning glance. "I hardly think that's necessary, Your Majesty." The Captain replied cautiously.

"That was an order from your king, Captain." King Frederick said, still not taking his eyes off of his daughter.

"Of course." Danny held out her arm for Laura to take, and Laura put her own arm through it. "This way, Your Highness." Danny said with all of the necessary formality, leading Laura in the direction of the staircase.

"Good night, Father." The Princess called over her shoulder as she was led away.

"I'm only doing this to keep you safe." Laura's father told her as she turned away.

Laura kept her arm linked with Danny's until they were out of sight, and she detangled herself without protest from the Captain. They walked side by side the rest of the way to Laura's room, where Laura looked directions in the hallway before opening her door and inviting Danny in with her.

"Now, would you mind telling me what happened tonight?" Danny asked as she closed the door behind her.

Laura sat on the edge of her bed. "I encountered the beast."

Danny's eyes appeared as if they might have popped out of their sockets at any moment. "You what?"

"I encountered the great black cat." Laura said again, and Danny felt it necessary to join her on the bed.

"And lived?" The guard asked, still in utter disbelief at the fact that Laura seemed so unfazed by this fact.

"And learned." Laura paused, hesitant to get Danny involved, even if it was absolutely necessary. "Danny, there is something far more sinister on the horizon for our kingdom, and the so-called monster in the woods is of no threat to us in comparison to what's to come."

"You still have yet to explain how your face is still intact. And what is to come?" Danny was confused, to say the least.

"The monster won't hurt me." Laura started, not willing to tell any more than absolutely necessary right now. "And I'm not yet certain of what's to come, but I need you to start preparing the guard. The whole guard."

Danny frowned. "That may prove a difficult task, considering I don't yet know what I'm preparing them for?"

Laura deliberated a moment, twisting Carmilla's red and black ring around on her finger. "War."

* * *

Queen Lilita sighed as she set down her looking glass, quite glad that Laura had yet to take off the ring. "Well, isn't this a twist in events?" She asked William, who stood with his hands behind his back near her door.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, but is this not a rather bad thing? Princess Laura is preparing for an attack and knows to be on the lookout for you." William's concern only brought a smile to Lilita's face.

"Had I not anticipated it, perhaps." The Queen motioned for William to come closer.

William frowned as he made a few long steps in the Queen's direction. "I'm afraid I don't understand, Your Majesty. You knew that Princess Laura would find out about your daughter's...affliction? And consequentially, your place in all of this?"

When he put it like that, the Queen could see where her servant's confusion came from. "Yes, William." However, she figured that her servant knew she was more competent than that. "But you heard for yourself. Dear Laura doesn't suspect a thing from Carmilla."

"Why would she? And why even go through with any of this in the first place? Why not let Carmilla be and allow Laura to come back to her in her own time?" William's chain of questions caused Lilita to roll her eyes.

"Because I never intended for Carmilla to be Queen of the kingdoms. It always had to be me, William." She revealed.

"Pardon?" William seemed to be genuinely thrown that time.

"You think that I have waited two centuries to have my twit of a daughter get her happily ever after with a pretty little Hollis princess? While I settle for being what? The queen mother who is supposed to grow old as she watches her royal little grandchildren be spoiled rotten and brought up to be proper little monarchs of the people? To be forgotten while Carmilla is put in the history books as one of the first Queens of the mighty adjacent kingdoms?" The thought of such a future made Lilita sick to her stomach, and she moved to the corner of her room where she kept a mixing cauldron, opening the cabinet above it and removing a few vials.

"Is that not why you spent so much time putting the princesses together?" William asked as he moved to stand behind her.

Lilita shook her head and began emptying varying amounts of the vials into the cauldron. "It was a necessary step, William. King Frederick is a fool who vowed to not remarry after his wife died tragically while giving birth to his precious heir. An heir so precious that he would never arrange her to marry a widowed queen old enough to be her mother. But a pretty little princess? Someone with the looks and the title and the age perfect for his little girl. How could he say no?" With a flick of her fingers, Lilita ignited the fire below the cauldron.

"And now?" Will asked, clearing his throat when Lilita's concoction began letting off cinnamon-scented fumes.

Lilita conjured up a wooden spoon with a flick of her wrist, using it to stir the cauldron. "And now, Laura is in love with Carmilla, just as I had hoped, and I am the true Queen of Karnstein because the fools I rule over all believe that the last member of the royal bloodline is dead." Lilita left her cauldron to move across the room to her bookshelf, looking for the one titled, _Southlands Geography._ Upon retrieving it, she opened it up to reveal her spells.

"But they won't for long if word gets out from Princess Laura." William reminded her.

Lilita thumbed through the book, looking for the right page. "Everyone believes that Laura is a grief-stricken mess and it truly won't be a problem. The more difficult part is getting her to marry me instead so that I may become the Queen of Hollis as well as the Queen of Karnstein. And that's surprisingly why it's good that Laura is still so in love with my daughter." She looked up from the book to look at William's face.

"Are you going to threaten Carmilla's life so that Princess Laura will agree to marry you?" The servant asked, knowing as well as anyone that Laura would never do so willingly.

"Oh, no." Lilita laughed, and held out her book for William to read. The doppelganger spell.

"You're going to turn yourself into Carmilla?" William asked, looking up into Lilita's eyes.

"For a while. I really would prefer to rule the kingdoms as myself, so the spell is only temporary. I just need it to last until I can get dear Laura to kiss me." Lilita went back to her cauldron, taking a deep whiff of the fumes.

"And then?" Lilita could tell that William was catching on, the way he eyed the vibrant red substance in the cauldron.

The Queen smiled. "Love potions have always been my specialty." With another wave of her hand, the Queen produced a small silver spoon, using it to get the tiniest amount of the potion possible. "The spell will take some time to complete, so we may as well let the two lovebirds have their fun."

"And we just stay here until then?" William's eyes remained trained on the spoon.

"We bide our time." The Queen blew ever so slightly on the spoon, cooling the potion as she would food for a small child. "Care for a taste?" She held it out to William, who knew that it wasn't really a question. The servant nodded, and opened his mouth, allowing Lilita to feed it to him. In just a few seconds, The Queen could see the lust in his eyes.

"Lilita-" William whispered, licking his lips and stepping well into the Queen's comfort zone.

"Shhh." Lilita put a finger to William's lips, and he moaned at the contact. "I hardly think any more words are necessary tonight, dear boy. Wouldn't you agree?"

The servant nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, my Queen."

"Good." Lilita smiled and put up a hand, magically hurling William backwards and out her open bedroom door. "Now, take the night to sober up. With the amount you were given, it shouldn't last longer than that." The Queen called out to him and waved her hand, magically shutting the door and bolting it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contained the equivalent of Lilita's Disney villain song where she explains her whole scheme, but if you want a real song, I highly suggest No One But You from Galavant.


	15. The Great Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If King Frederick believes that preventing Laura from leaving out the front door will keep her from Carmilla, then he has another thing coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy. So that was a bit of a hiatus. Sorry, guys. Life and a tedious creative writing class that stole all my inspiration for a while got in the way. But I'm back, and with by far the longest chapter yet. And I think you're going to like what it entails.

"I know it's not really my place to tell you to do anything, but I highly suggest a bath." LaFontaine called to Carmilla, who was in front of the fireplace, attempting to get in a good sleep before she met Laura that night. This was proving impossible, however, given her hosts' incessant need to continue chattering about every last detail. To Carmilla, Perry and LaFontaine seemed to be getting far too much enjoyment out of her relationship with Laura. The Professor's latest suggestion went ignored.

"LaFontaine, just don't worry about it. If she wants to be filthy every time she meets Princess Laura, then she can." Perry said sweetly as she emerged from her and her spouse's bedroom, carrying a stack of clothes.

Carmilla truly wondered how it was that someone not trained to be a nursemaid, and without children of her own, could possibly be as motherly as Perry. She also noticed that Perry no longer treaded carefully with her, which was unfamiliar, but actually appreciated. In Carmilla's first twenty years of life, she had been spoiled and sucked up to enough for three lifetimes.

Perry deeply sighed, placing the pile of clothes on the sofa before turning to Carmilla with her hands on her hips. Gods knew she couldn’t be blasé about a princess being so unkempt for long. "Just because you're a giant cat doesn't mean you have to act like one, Carmilla. It's just water."

Carmilla knew it was just water. She simply hated the idea of bathing while in animal form. She frankly didn't even know how to wash herself. She thought that it might be similar to the actions of the cats kept by the kitchen staff to keep the mice away, but she didn't particularly want to think about that. Her mind made up, Carmilla shook her head no.

"We'll help you and everything." LaFontaine promised as they dropped a minute amount of something purple into a portion of Carmilla's blood. They moved down several of the magnifying glasses over their workbench, holding them over the sample and staring intently, waiting for a reaction of some kind.

Carmilla sighed, desperately just wanting to nap. Hoping that it would get them to leave her be, she tapped her paw on the floor once, signifying yes.

"So do you think the sorceress knows that Laura knows?" LaFontaine asked, still watching the container for a change. After another moment, they jotted down something on a piece of paper.

"How could she possibly know, LaFontaine?" Perry asked and began going through the dresses she'd brought about, looking between them and Carmilla. From the looks of it, she was seeing if mint green would go well with Carmilla's hair color.

"I don't know, Perr. Maybe the same way she turned our friend, the Princess, into an enormous feline?" LaFontaine said sarcastically. They looked at a pocket watch before jotting something else down on the paper.

"I just don't understand magic. It all is just so illogical." Perry huffed as she folded the dress back up and placed it off to the side for the time being.

LaFontaine frowned. "I believe that’s the whole point, Perr."

Perry rubbed her temple and sighed. "I know."

* * *

Laura was initially glad that her father had chosen that night to hold dinner in the main dining room in order to accommodate all of the more important names from Hollis' capital city. It provided her with an opportunity to put on a good face and try to get back into her father's good graces. Something she would need if she didn't wish to be a prisoner in her own home. Unfortunately, this also meant that she was stuck in one of the more uncomfortable dresses from her wardrobe and being forced to give a constant smile like the ones painted on the faces of her childhood marionettes. A princess was meant to be a pretty thing for her more powerful subjects to look at until she was a queen, when they would be forced to take her orders.

Laura didn't exactly see the logic in this, but she let her father dictate the dinner conversation while she silently contemplated how she would pull him aside after dinner to ask if she could go for a walk. Or something of the like. It was a dinner not unlike any other that King Frederick had hosted in Laura's lifetime, until just after the servants brought out the main course, when the King's conversation shifted from that of taxes and laws.

"I am glad that you all could be here, as I would like to make an announcement." The King said louder than usual. Ensuring that even the supposedly unimportant people who ran the kingdom's biggest farms, placed in the far corner of the dining room, could hear. "I know that the untimely passing of dear Princess Carmilla has been hard on all of us. Especially so for my daughter." The King continued, and Laura desperately wished that she had the ability to turn invisible as all eyes in the room shifted to her. Everyone had faces that ranged from sympathy to scrutiny, as if they were just waiting for her to do or say something suited for a madwoman. Fortunately for her, King Frederick noticed as well, making him quickly get to his point. "I'm glad that you all are here, because I am announcing that in light of these recent events, we shall be having a ball in a week's time.

Laura raised an eyebrow and decided it best to speak for the first time that evening, Maybe try to make things seem as normal as possible. And her father's introduction intrigued her. "A ball? And what, may I ask, are we celebrating, Father?" Laura had admittedly been pretty wrapped up in other things to have been keeping track of upcoming holidays, but she was quite certain there couldn't be any major one.

"You, my darling." King Frederick admitted, to which Laura frowned.

"Why?" She inquired, trying to keep casual around the guests.

"Well, Laura, I've invited all of the most eligible young ladies and gentlemen in the region so that you may choose a new suitor." The King said happily, though the look on his face was one anticipating a blowup. One that Laura would simply not allow in front of guests who already thought she would be in an institution if not for her royal status.

"Father, may we please speak in private?" She said through her teeth, smiling in such a way that looked more like an animal barring their teeth in anticipation of a fight.

"Of course, Laura." The King agreed, all but sighing with relief. He stood from his seat and turned to address his guests once more. "If you all would just excuse us for a moment. My daughter is obviously stunned by this news." He pulled Laura's chair out for her and held out his arm for her to take in order to escort her out of the dining room and into the hallway behind heavy doors.

"I absolutely refuse to have you try to force someone else on me." Laura said immediately after dropping the happy facade. Her stance was firm as she crossed her arms and tried to seem imposing. Something impossible with her father.

"I know that Carmilla's death has been hard on you." King Frederick's tone was soothing, and he reached out a hand to place on Laura's shoulder. She shied away, finding the action patronizing. "But you are far older than most without a match already made for them."

"I'm sorry that the brutal death of my betrothed since I was an infant has put a burden on you, Father." Laura said sarcastically.

"I don't mean it like that. It's just that the people in this region fear an unmarried ruler due to what happened with King Joseph and the current succession issues in Karnstein." The King tried to justify his actions, and Laura wished she could just tell him that the one true heir to the kingdom of Karnstein was in the form of a giant black cat somewhere. Likely sleeping. "I am not saying that you have to get married immediately. I just think that it's best to find you a match now so that you have time to get to know each other. Not as well as you and Carmilla, but-"

"I am not participating in this." Laura refused outright. There was no way she would consider anyone else when Carmilla was just a short distance away, alive and relatively well.

The King sighed. "You unfortunately don't have a choice, Laura. You were born into this family and you have an obligation just I did."

Laura didn't know why she was surprised. It wasn't as if she'd ever had a real choice in anything she did. She hadn't even originally chose Carmilla. "You chose my mother and you loved her." Laura reminded him.

"Yes, I did. And it was wrong of me to have taken your choice away in the first place." King Frederick reached out his hand once more, placing it on Laura's shoulder when she didn't move away again. "I know this doesn't make anything better right now, but I'm giving your choice back to you."

Laura knew that her father had good intentions. In fact, had he given this offer to her years earlier, she probably would have gleefully taken him up on it. But as it was, her choice was Carmilla, and she would not settle for anything else, nor would she play along. Especially not when she knew that her so-called choice had limitations that her father wouldn't mention unless pressed.

"And what if I wanted to marry, say, a castle guard?" Laura asked, referencing her liaison with Danny for no one but herself. "Would that be a good enough match for you?"

"I have invited every single eligible young lady and gentleman in the lands. You may choose from them." The king reiterated his earlier announcement, not giving Laura a direct answer to her question, but simultaneously doing just that. Though one particular part of this did catch Laura's interest.

"Gentlemen?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

King Frederick looked somewhat sheepish. "It occurred to me that I had never cared to ask." He explained.

Laura smiled slightly to herself, realizing that this was in fact true. How lucky she had been that it had never been a problem. "I appreciate the sentiment, Father, but I like women."

The King nodded once. "Well, I'm sure the young men will make fine dance partners next week, regardless." He looked at the doors leading back into the dining room, obviously thinking about how he didn't want to stay gone for too long so as to not make a scene.

Laura knew how to help with that. "I wish to take a ride on my horse." She told her father, not intending on returning to dinner at all.

"No." The King refused immediately, not to Laura's surprise.

She sighed. "Father, I merely want to ride Susanna around the grounds; she needs the exercise."

King Frederick shook his head. "I have the inkling that you will ride off."

Laura tried her very hardest to seem appalled, but that was exactly what she intended on doing. "And what gives you that impression?" She asked, crossing her arms.

Her father pretended to mull over this question for a few moments. "Every last one of your actions in the past few weeks." He said finally.

Laura could see where her father was coming from, but considering that her seemingly pointless ventures into the forest had actually not been in vain, she couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Father, you can't honestly think that I will make a good ruler of our kingdom if you constantly keep me locked up in the castle."

King Frederick brought his hand up to massage his right temple. "I don't intend for this to be permanent. Just until you start to regain your bearings."

Laura bit her lip and wrung her hands together, already thinking of a way to get around all of this. She could always sneak out of the castle after dark. She figured that it wouldn't be terribly difficult to leave through one of the side doors, or maybe even a passage from her father's study. "So you're saying that I'm truly not allowed to leave the castle without your permission?"

"Precisely." The King said

Laura sighed. "I'm assuming the staff has been alerted of this?" The thought had only just occurred to her, but it would be difficult to retrieve her horse from the stables if the people working there had been alerted. Which would offer her no other choice but to walk.

"Yes." Her father confirmed.

The monosyllabic answers which were making her escape all the more difficult were truly trying Laura's patience. "How wonderful." She said through her teeth, then thought that she would need a quicker way out of the castle if she was going to have to walk all the way to the village to buy a ride from a carriage service, or a villager with a cart. Either one would work. "Then I ask that I have some additional linens brought to my room."

"May I ask why?" King Frederick said with a raised eyebrow at the request.

Laura thought of a lie. It wasn't a terribly good one, but one she hoped her father would believe, regardless. He did think that she wasn't entirely herself, after all. "Well, if you're going to keep me locked up and marry me off _again_ like a small child, then why not revel in it and make a fort in my bedroom?"

Laura's father frowned, presumably looking for any crack in Laura's face to see if her request was truly genuine. "If you truly wish to do something so foolish, then fine. I shall have them sent up." He agreed after a moment.

Laura smiled. "Thank you."

By pure coincidence, it was at that exact moment that Laura noticed none other than Danny round the corner at the end of the hallway, likely heading for the dining hall reserved for the guard. She stopped when she noticed Laura and King Frederick’s presence and stood straight and tall. “Good evening, Your Majesty. Your Highness.” Danny formally greeted the two of them.

King Frederick cleared his throat, obviously thinking about Laura asking about castle guards, which made Laura somewhat regret the comment. "Captain, I am expecting several messages to be flown in for me in the coming days. Please ensure that a guard is posted near the pigeons so that they may deliver the mail directly to me."

Laura rolled her eyes. Of course letters would be flown in left and right from those who could and couldn't make it to her father's archaic ball. Gods knew it wasn't really hers.

"Of course, Your Majesty." Danny nodded and stole a glance at Laura, likely already aware of the event. She gave a look of sympathy..

"And you're arranged for the additional night guard?" King Frederick asked, regaining Danny's attention.

Danny turned back to the King. "Yes, Your Majesty. I've arranged for six guards across three shifts."

Laura frowned again. Two additional night guards could only cover so much space, and she had a good idea of where they were likely going to be positioned.

"That should suffice." King Frederick nodded once.

Danny forced a smile. "Very good, Your Majesty." She quickly glanced over at Laura with a look of guilt, possibly confirming the Princess' suspicions about the extra guard. The Captain awkwardly straightened her posture. "And I will unfortunately have to excuse myself now, as I have arranged for a meeting amongst the higher ranking guards this evening." Danny deliberately acknowledged both of the royals when she said this, causing Laura to suspect that this meeting would be about more than just extra security for the upcoming ball.

"Of course, Captain." Laura interjected for her father, and Danny made her leave. Laura turned back to the King. "May I please be excused as well? That linen fort won't build itself."

King Frederick sighed. "I suppose so."

Without waiting any further, Laura quickly broke away, walking as fast as she could without breaking into a run. She silently cursed the shoes her father had insisted her maids leave out for her to wear to dinner, vowing to ban such uncomfortable things when she became queen. Regardless of the pain, Laura kept her pace until she had made it up the stairs and to the door of her father's study, hoping that she could remember exactly what she was looking for.

Going straight to the wall of history books, she looked for the one she'd read over a year before, hoping she was right in that it could provide some insight. "Now, where are you?" Laura whispered to the elusive book, running her hand across the names etched into the spines of the books. She jumped slightly when she found the familiar title, and she pulled the book from its place. From the looks of it, the old thinghadn't been touched since she last read it, so she quickly found the blank strip of parchment she had used to mark her place, just where the kingdom of Hollis was being attacked.

Laura flipped back a few pages to re-read how this all came to be. About how despite the fact that he had long been betrothed to the Princess of Karnstein, a beautiful if rather dim girl- Laura couldn't help but chuckle at that- the Prince of Hollis was having a torrid affair with an extremely alluring young sorceress by the name of Lilith. A woman born to two lowly novelty magicians but who managed to capture the heart of the dashing prince. But as much as the prince had favored her, he had been loyal first and foremost to his kingdom, so he went through with his marriage to the princess and had ended things with the sorceress, wishing that she would someday find true love, even if it was not with him.

The story could have ended there, but Lilith simply wouldn't allow it. Two weeks after the grand royal wedding, she cast out her magic on the great forest that separates Hollis and Karnstein, summoning creatures including bears and wolves and falcons to come forth, attacking Castle Hollis without abandon. At their flanks was Lilith, who walked right through the path of destruction to the cowering new bride. The princess begged for her life, to which Lilith laughed. The sorceress then materialized a dagger in her hand and looked for her prince. When she found him in the chaos, just managing to fight off a wolf, she caught his gaze and she smiled at him, just as she had in the moments when they were not a prince and the daughter of magicians, but simply a girl and a boy in love. Then she drove the dagger into the princess' heart, giggling and twisting it when the Prince let out a cry of horror.

The Prince ran to his slain wife, sword out and vowing revenge after seeing the evil in his love's heart. But using the last of her strength, Lilith turned herself into a flock of crows, flying away from the destruction to never be seen again.

Laura, already convinced she had been correct in her suspicions, turned the page. "So it is you, Queen Lilita?" She murmured to herself upon seeing an illustration of the sorceress standing over the slain princess, looking unbelievably similar to Carmilla’s mother. Satisfied, she closed the book and hugged it close to her chest as she swiftly made her leave from her father’s office and finally went to her bedroom.

Either her servants had moved more quickly than usual, or Laura had been reading longer than expected, but the extra linens were already sitting on her bed when she arrived, along with a nightgown that she intended to ignore. She looked out one of the windows, noting that the sun was already starting to go down and realizing that she would truly have to hurry. Tossing the history book onto her desk for later, Laura immediately went to her wardrobe, finding a simple pair of breeches that her father wouldn’t have let her wear to dinner, and a white shirt.  As an afterthought, she also grabbed a hooded cloak, thinking that it would be just her luck to come across a villager who recognized her and thought it their duty to return the poor sick princess to her father.

In record time, Laura was dressed and fastening her sword in its scabbard to her belt. But before moving forward with her escape, she had to ensure that there wasn’t an easier option, so she went to the door, pressing her ear to it.  
  
"I don't know about you, but this shift isn't worth the extra pay." An unfamiliar woman’s voice said after Laura had waited a moment.

"We're protecting the Princess, which is more than I can say about other posts."A young man, almost pubescent, replied defensively.

Laura sighed, not surprised so much as annoyed that her father had placed two guards outside her room as if it were her own cell. She turned back to the bed, picking up the stack of linens and counting them before throwing the comforter off her bed and yanking the sheets off to join the others. Thinking it would be enough, Laura began the process of tying the linens together with knots she prayed would hold, not allowing herself to stop until she’d finished the last knot and was able to gaze upon the rope she’d manufactured. She picked up one end and dragged it over to her balcony, which she stepped out onto and looked down over the railing.

“Maybe I really am crazy.” Laura whispered to herself, thinking of what would happen if she fell four stories onto a stone garden path. Death, probably. But she refused to give in to her cowardice, vowing to see Carmilla that night as she had promised to.She would not let her father take this night from her.

Laura barred her teeth and leaned down to tie the linen rope to the top of the balcony’s guard rail, making sure it was even tighter than the rest. Then she returned to her room for the other end, which she threw over the side. Laura couldn’t help but see the irony in what her father’s quest for her safety had brought her to.

“I can do this.” She whispered encouragingly to herself as she gripped the guard rail with all she had and climbed over it. “Don’t look down. Don’t look down.” Laura chanted as she took one hand from the rail to grip the rope, and then the other. Laura inched her grip downwards ever so slightly and closed her eyes tight before pushing her feet off of the ledge, letting out a short but uncontrollable shriek and holding on to the rope with all the strength she had. She only opened her eyes when it became apparent that she hadn’t yet fallen to her death, and that she ought to start climbing down quickly just in case the knots only needed time. Carefully, she began moving her hands down over each other while curling her legs around the rope, moving herself down the sheets almost triumphantly. Laura caught herself smiling just before she realized that her feet were no longer touching the rope, but there was still some distance between them and the ground.

But not four stories, Laura reminded herself. She kept moving her hands until they were just above the end of the rope and she was dangling. Only when her muscles began to cry out in protest did Laura take a big breath and let go, falling what had to have been at least Danny’s height before landing on her feet, bending her knees to take the impact. She finally released the air from her lungs, then looked back at the makeshift rope swinging from her balcony, rather impressed with herself.

“Well, that wasn’t so hard.” She whispered, then turned to run to the road leading into the town, vowing not to stop until she had made it to someone who would take her into the forest.

* * *

 

It was just after Carmilla had changed back into a human and gotten into the clean dress Perry had given her that an old carriage stopped on the road near the cabin. Carmilla watched from the trees as the skinny little man driving it, looking rather frightened to be in the forest at night, spoke to his passenger. A moment later, the carriage door opened and a small hooded figure climbed out.

The figure- obviously Laura, given her size- walked to the front of the carriage and placed what was likely an obscene amount of gold in the driver’s hand. Then she turned from him and started walking toward Carmilla as the driver managed to turn his carriage around and have his horse get back to the town as quickly as possible. Once he was a good distance down the road, Laura threw her hood back and closed the rest of the distance between her and Carmilla, not wasting any time in kissing her.

"You made it." Carmilla said once they had broken apart, and Laura laughed.

"Not easily.” She sighed, shaking her head and allowing Carmilla’s imagination to run rampant. “And I fear that I might be unable to do it again as my father will likely place guards within my room next time.”

Though curious, Carmilla wouldn’t squander what could possibly be her last hours with Laura in a good while by asking for the details of her great escape. "But you're here now, and that's all that matters." She said, leaning forward to go in for a kiss, only to be stopped by Laura unexpectedly turning her head to one side.

"Carmilla, I know who your mother is.” Laura told her, effectively killing the mood for the time being.

“You do?” Carmilla was surprised, as even she knew very little about the woman who gave birth to her, aside from the fact that she was apparently a powerful sorceress. The story everyone in her kingdom knew was that she was from a noble family in one of the countries in the south, beyond the Summer Islands. Almost twenty-five years before, she had taken a journey to Karnstein, only to have her carriage attacked by a great beast. Carmilla’s father had found her after the fact. The likelihood of it all being lies, aside from her father finding Lilita, was good.

“I know this might sound crazy, but really, what isn’t crazy anymore?” Laura started. “In my father’s study, I came across a history book detailing the events of an international disaster that occurred over two centuries ago. Have you ever heard of the princess of your country who married a prince from Hollis and was murdered by a sorceress two weeks later?’

Carmilla raised an eyebrow. She admittedly had briefly read on the subject- there was little she hadn’t read about her kingdom’s history- but she had always thought that the events had been exaggerated for dramatic effect and that the Princess had merely been stabbed to death by a jealous lover. It certainly wouldn’t have been the most strange thing to have occurred in her family’s history. “Yes.” She said with a nod of her head.

“I believe that the scorned sorceress was your mother.” Laura revealed, not exactly to Carmilla’s surprise. After all, the timing was right to when she was supposedly banished to a wasteland. “So if she could be defeated once, it wouldn’t be impossible to do it again.”

“You honestly think that in 200 years, my mother’s skills haven’t evolved?” Carmilla knew they had. She remembered the last time she had seen her mother, in the carriage when she changed. The magic required to transform a human being into a monster didn’t even seem to faze her.

“I don’t doubt it, but we are prepared this time.” Laura reassured her. “Your mother ambushed the castle all those years ago. I believe that Danny is already working on preparing the entire guard for a-“

“Laura, she turned me into beast without so much as a flick of the wrist. Do you honestly think your guards will be of any use?” Carmilla interrupted. While she could appreciate Laura’s optimism, she didn’t want her to have false hope, either. “I honestly don’t know what can be done to stop her.”

Laura shrugged. “Well, then whatever happens, happens. But I will die knowing that I tried to protect you.”

Carmilla rolled her eyes at this. “You are far too noble for your own good.”

“I think you secretly like that about me.” Laura said with a smirk. She took a step closer, waiting for the other girl to make a move.

“You know,” Carmilla licked her lips and looked Laura up and down from her head to her toes. “As a child, I never anticipated that I would like you so much.”

"I used to find you beastly, but I never anticipated a scenario in which you actually became one.” Laura nonchalantly pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. “So I suppose it all evens out."

This caused both of the girls to break out into a fit of laughter, followed instantaneously by Carmilla taking Laura's hand and beginning to lead her through the forest in a run, not wasting any time in heading towards the clearing by the creek from before, making sure to go around the steep drop-off. They only had so much time, after all and she didn't wish to spend it whispering near the road.

Carmilla and Laura giggled girlishly when they hopped over the creek together, their hands never breaking apart. They were still laughing when they were in the center of the clearing, quieting only when they were lunging at each other again, hungrily seeking out the other’s mouth. Laura’s hands came to rest on Carmilla’s hips while Carmilla grasped at Laura's hair. Laura soon gasped when Carmilla lightly bit her lower lip.

“Did that hurt?” Carmilla whispered fearfully after swiftly pulling herself away. She still didn't really know if anything about her was different when she was human.

"No." Laura insisted, and reached up to untie her cloak with one hand.

The thought of where this was leading excited almost everything about Carmilla, but one tiny voice in her head told her that there in the forest, while she was cursed and Laura had snuck out of her castle, possibly wasn't the best time or place for all of this. Carmilla put her hand on Laura's wrist to stop her, when the knot of her cloak was almost all the way undone. "Laura, we shouldn't." Carmilla regretfully stated, pulling herself away,

Laura frowned. "And why not?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips, looking downright offended that Carmilla wasn't currently all over her. "Don't tell me that all this time you have really been saving yourself for your wedding night?"

Carmilla chucked and shook her head. "No, it's just that-" She paused and observed her current surroundings again. "I'm not certain now is the best time."

Laura rolled her eyes. "It's alright. I brought my sword in case your mother decides to poof herself here in a cloud of smoke or some sort. We can keep it nearby." She then wasted no time in finally ridding herself of the cloak, then spreading it out on the grass as if it were a blanket of sorts. Laura got down onto the cloak, sitting with her hands behind her, holding her upper body up, and her legs ever so slightly spread apart.

The sight alone was enough to make Carmilla feel a distinct wetness between her legs, especially considering her lack of undergarments under Perry's dress. "It's not that." She assured Laura, quickly feeling most of her resolve dissipate at the idea of getting down on her hands and knees and pushing Laura onto her back, positively defiling her in the eyes of most everyone that apparently mattered. Oh, what a grand idea. It was no wonder her protests sounded weak, even to her. "It's just...I want this to be special for you, and I can't help but notice that we're in the middle of a forest." So weak.

Laura rolled her eyes and slowly brought one hand from behind her back, using it to undo the top button of her shirt. "Carmilla, I wouldn't care if we were in the middle of a desert in the midday. The only thing that matters to me is that I'm here with you, and until last night, I was almost convinced that we would never get to have a moment like this." Laura unbuttoned another button, showing Carmilla a bit of cleavage. "So are you truly going to deny me? Because I'm not really the begging type, if that is the sort of thing you're interested in."

Carmilla's breath hitched, and perhaps it was the beast inside her, but she could feel the slightest growl build in her throat before she gave in to all of her desires, getting down and straddling Laura in a matter of seconds, viciously claiming her mouth, then moving downward to her neck, and then her exposed bit of chest.

Laura giggled, only partially because of what Carmilla was doing to her. "You're easily persuaded."

Carmilla raised her head up from where she had undone another of Laura's buttons using nothing but her tongue and teeth. She smiled somewhat guiltily at Laura. "I didn't want to stop."

Laura smirked, then used a fighting tactic to switch positions with Carmilla. "Good." She gently caressed Carmilla's cheek, then with a devilish gleam in her eye, snaked her hand downward to the hem of Carmilla's dress.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys can go ahead and use your beautiful little imaginations for the rest. ;)


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